The Whole Story
by Katy M VT
Summary: The Winchesters and the Campbells had hunted together for generations. What changed and how did John and Mary go from love to hate and back to love?  Spans from 1954 until the future. Finally finished.  Way AU I'm sure after the finale.
1. In the Beginning

A/N I'm not finished writing this, but I'm going to start posting anyway. This is by far the longest story I have written and will probably turn out to be at least 20 chapters. I hope you can all stick with it that long. I'm trying to stick to as much established canon as possible while writing my own back story for the Winchesters. This story starts out with John and Mary as toddlers and I am planning on taking it into the present, possibly the future.

1955

Samuel and Deana Campbell were sitting at their kitchen table with their friends Matt and Amy Winchester. Their children, John and Mary, were in the playpen in the next room.

"It's hard to believe the kids are a year old," Deanna said. Mary had changed their lives in so many ways, but all good.

"I know. Two years ago, we were all vagabond hunters and now we have children," Amy agreed.

"Not like we don't still hunt," Samuel pointed out. "There's plenty out there that needs killing and we still have jobs to do."

"Yeah, but now we have even better reasons to do it," Matt said, looking at the two youngsters. He had never realized he could love anyone so much. He loved Amy, but John was a different kind of love.

"It's scary, thinking of bringing up children into this life. This must have been how our parents felt," Amy said. The Campbells and the Winchesters had been hunting together for generations. Nobody in this room knew how far back the tradition went.

"So, Samuel, you and I are going on that hunt this weekend and leaving the women to care for the kids?" Matt said, confirming their plans.

"Yep. My brother Mitch will be joining us."

"Great. Haven't seen him in ages."

"Well, if you guys are going to leave early tomorrow morning, we should get home. Tired hunters make me uneasy," Amy said, as she went in the other room and picked up John.

John started crying and reaching back towards Mary. The adults all laughed. They were all secretly hoping that John and Mary would fall in love when they grew up. None of them voiced the hope, though. It wouldn't be likely to happen. They'd probably be more like brother and sister. That was fine, too.

SSS

"So, Mitch is meeting us at the woods?" Matt asked. He was really excited to see his old friend again.

"Yeah. You know Mitch and wendigos. That's his favorite hunt. Never could figure out why. They're nasty creatures," Samuel said and shuddered.

"I think you just answered your own question," Matt laughed.

"Yeah. I guess I just did. Personally, I like hunting ghosts. Just dig them up and salt and burn their bones. Half the time you never even have to come in contact with them," Samuel said.

"Yeah, I hear you," Matt agreed.

They pulled up to the edge of the woods. Mitch was already waiting for them. "Let's go!" he yelled.

Samuel shook his head. He loved his brother, but sometimes he acted like a moron. There were five boys in the family, so why he always ended up hunting with Mitch, he didn't know. Ed and Ted were twins, so it was kind of a no-brainer that they would stick together all the time. And, George was the go it alone type. That pretty much left Mitch and Samuel to hunt together.

"Do you know where its lair is?" Matt asked.

"I have a pretty good idea," Mitch answered. He had been studying maps all last night and there were some abandoned mines in the area. Wendigos were usually former miners and they usually ended up in their old workspace.

"Alright, then. Let's go," Samuel said. The sooner they burned that sucker the sooner he could get back to Deanna and Mary. Without even realizing it, his face lit up at the thought of his daughter. She was so beautiful. She was going to look exactly like her mother. He could already tell.

They were each carrying several flare guns. Each one only had one shot and you don't always hit on the first try. As they hiked in the woods, they were quiet. They didn't want to alert the wendigo to their presence. They were nasty creatures, and fast, and strong. One could drag you back to its lair and string you up for later consumption before you knew what hit you.

They finally came to an old mine entrance. Matt went in first. His eyes adjusted to the dark as Samuel and Mitch came in behind him. He could sense something wasn't right, but he wasn't sure what. That's when he realized that the wendigo was standing against the wall opposite them.

He had probably been on his way out to hunt, or make sure his home was secure. Whatever it is wendigos did during the day, when he had heard them or smelled them coming. He had then stood and waited for them to come in. Wendigos used to be human and as a result were smart. They had the instincts of an animal, but the reasoning power of a human. That was a dangerous combination.

Matt didn't have time to give any more thought to this. The wendigo lunged at him and grabbed his ankle, pulling him down.

By this time, Samuel and Mitch were up to speed on what was happening and began firing their flare guns at the creature. It was too fast for them, though, and had disappeared into the interior of the mine with Matt.

Mitch pointed for Samuel to go one way and he went the other. They had to find their friend fast, while at the same time avoid capture themselves. This was why Mitch loved to hunt wendigos. Nothing else gave quite as much of an adrenaline rush. He would never admit that out loud, though. They were the most dangerous hunts and he had lost friends on them. Good people. He would not let that happen today.

He crept around the corner and came upon the wendigo tying Matt's hands above his head. Mitch lifted his flare gun, aimed and fired. Unfortunately the wendigo spun around and evaded the shot at the last second. The wendigo lunged at Mitch. The wendigo had not finished securing Matt and he managed to free himself. He had lost his flare guns as the wendigo had dragged him through the mine, so he tackled him. That only served to enrage the wendigo, who realized that the stupid person tackling him was no match for him, so he just increased his attack on Mitch.

A few seconds later, Samuel arrived on the scene. "Get down!" he yelled at Matt.

Matt jumped off of the wendigo, Samuel fired and the wendigo was toast. Unfortunately, Mitch had already been torn to ribbons.


	2. Free to Be You and Me

"What happened?" Samuel yelled at Matt.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, thinking the scene before them was pretty self-explanatory. He turned away. He couldn't bear to look at Mitch's mutilated corpse.

"You got my brother killed," was all Samuel said. He stalked out of the mine.

"I'm sorry," Matt said, running after him. It was never easy to lose someone on a hunt, but it was a dangerous job and life expectancy wasn't high.

"Stay away from me," Samuel yelled back. He got back to the highway and realized that Matt had driven here. He sobbed as he realized that Mitch didn't need his car. He got in Mitch's car and drove off.

Matt had stayed behind for a few minutes. He was giving Samuel time to cool off and absorb some of his grief. He was sad, too. Mitch was his friend. The Campbells had always been like family to him. They had all grown up together. Gone to the same schools. Hunted together. Got drunk together. He trudged towards the road.

When he got there and saw that Samuel had taken Mitch's car, he got in his and headed home. He figured Samuel would just need a few days. Amy would probably know what to do. Women were better in these kinds of situation.

SSS

Samuel walked in the door, defeated. Deanna immediately saw that something was wrong. "What happened?" she asked, anxiously.

"Mitch is dead," Samuel said staring at the floor. He spoke in a monotone. He just couldn't believe it.

"What happened?" Deanna asked. She knew they were hunting a wendigo and realized that was a stupid question. She hoped Samuel wouldn't relay the gory details. Mitch had been the best man at their wedding and she wanted to remember him like that. Not as a corpse.

"It was Matt's fault," Samuel said.

"How?" Deanna asked. Matt was a good hunter. The two couples had gone hunting tons of times together. Deanna had always trusted each and every one of them with her life and it was mutual for all of them.

"He got himself grabbed by the wendigo and Mitch went to save him."

"Well, that's not really his fault," Deanna tempered.

"Then, Matt tried to attack the wendigo," Samuel continued.

"What do you mean?" Deanna asked, thinking she must have misheard him. Wendigos attacked people. Most definitely not the other way around.

"I mean he tackled him. Didn't make the wendigo very happy and he took it out on Mitch." Samuel left the room. He couldn't talk about it any more. He went into the nursery. He needed something pure and beautiful to take away the pain.

When Mary saw her father she smiled and cooed. Samuel smiled back and picked her up. "I love you, Mary," he said. "I'm going to protect you. You will never hunt with a Winchester." It had never occurred to him that he would have been protecting her more by not allowing her to hunt. His daughter would be a hunter. He would train her and she would be the best. But he would never work with anyone else again. Just his wife and his daughter, maybe his remaining brothers. Family was all you could count on. Other people just got you killed.

SSS

Matt walked in to the house. "How did it go?" Amy asked.

"Mitch is dead," Matt said.

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Amy said. She didn't know Mitch very well, but she knew that he and Matt had been close in earlier years. "How's Samuel?"

"He blames me," Matt said.

"I'm sure he'll come around. Hunting accidents are pretty common," Amy said.

"Speaking of which, I've been doing some thinking," Matt said.

"What?" Amy asked.

"Now that we have a child, I don't think we should hunt any more. I want something more for John. He could be anything he wanted to. I know a lot about cars. I could become a mechanic. I could teach John about cars. That could be the new family business."

Amy nearly burst into tears. "Oh, Matt. I've felt the same way, but I didn't know how to bring it up. I mean, I don't want to be a mechanic, but I didn't want John to hunt."

"What? You don't want to be a mechanic?"

"Very funny," Amy laughed and threw the towel she had been wiping dishes with at him. "This could be a new beginning for us."

"Yeah. I'm just sorry that it took Mitch's death to make me see it," Matt said.

Amy turned serious again. "We should go see Samuel and Deanna tomorrow. We'll take them some food."

"Should we get a sitter or bring John?" Matt asked.

"Let's bring John. John and Mary together can brighten any room," Amy decided.

SSS

Matt rang the doorbell, while Amy nervously held John. She wasn't good at the consoling thing. She was always either too gloomy or too cheerful. She didn't know what to say, how to act, what to wear. Then she felt guilty about being self-conscious and focused on herself when she should be focused on the grieving party. She took a deep breath as the door opened.

When Deanna opened the door she was surprised to say the least. Samuel had left her in no doubt about how he felt about Matt. She turned around nervously looking for him. She sighed in relief when she didn't see him and stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her.

"We wanted to come and say how sorry we are," Amy said. "How's Samuel doing?"

"He's doing as well as can be expected," Deanna said. "He's not very happy with you right now, though," she said to Matt.

"I was hoping he just needed some time," Matt said.

Deanna shook her head. "You know Samuel. Once he gets an idea in his head, it's there to stay. He thinks you're responsible for Mitch's death and that's the way he's going to think until the day he dies. I don't think you guys should come around her anymore."

"But, we've always been best friends," Amy protested.

"I heard him telling Mary he was never going to hunt with anybody but us and his brothers ever again. From the tone of his voice, I know he meant it. That includes you two."

"We've actually decided to give up hunting," Amy said.

Matt was just standing there. He didn't know what to say. He did feel responsible for Mitch's death, but no matter how many times he replayed it in his mind, he didn't know how he could have stopped it. Even if he hadn't taken the odd action of tackling him, he had had no way of killing the wendigo and he had already been attacking Mitch. He had actually been trying to get the stupid thing to attack him so that Mitch could use one of his flare guns. What was he supposed to have done? This was one of the reasons why he didn't want to hunt. Sometimes there was just no easy answer.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Anybody who knows about this stuff should keep on hunting. It's selfish not to," Deanna said. "You and I taking a couple of years off to have our babies and take care of them was one thing, but to permanently give it up is another. If we don't kill these things, who will?" Now she was mad. First Matt goes and gets Mitch killed and then gives up hunting himself. Why couldn't he have done it one day sooner?

She went back inside and firmly shut the door leaving Matt and Amy standing dumbfounded on the porch. After a couple of minutes they went back to their car and left.

"Who was at the door?" Samuel asked.

Deanna thought about lying to spare Samuel a tirade, but thought better of it. They didn't have a great marriage by lying to each other. "Matt and Amy."

"What did they want?" Samuel seethed.

"They wanted to say they were sorry about Mitch and tell us that they've given up hunting."

"Good. It will keep the rest of us hunters safe," Samuel said. But inside all he felt was disrespect. Hunters were hunters. There was no changing that or going back. Once you knew the truth and knew how to hunt, it was your responsibility.


	3. After School Special

Four Years Later

Amy brought John to his first day of kindergarten. "Are you excited?" she asked.

"I'm scared," John admitted in a whisper. There were other kids around and he didn't want them hearing that he was a scaredy cat.

"Well, it's OK to be scared," Amy said in the same low voice, "But when you're scared and do something anyway, it means you're brave."

"Really?" John asked, lighting up. All his Superman comic books were always talking about how good it was to be brave.

"Really. Superman's scared sometimes too. But he does what he has to do."

Amy had been kneeling down to John's level and as she stood up, she saw Deanna Campbell coming in to the room holding a little girl's hand. That had to be Mary. She was a beautiful child. Amy had missed her friends every single day since they had shunned them. She wondered if she should go over and say something now.

She decided to try waving instead. She smiled and waved at her old friend when she saw her turn in her direction, but Deanna just turned away.

Soon it was time for the parents to leave, so the kids could start their first day of school. Amy caught up with Deanna outside. "Wait!" she called.

Deanna turned to her. "Amy," she said stiffly.

"Hasn't this gone on long enough? It's been four years."

"Four years with innocent people dying, because you and Matt won't do the right thing and hunt anymore."

"What will happen to Mary if you're both killed on a hunt?" Amy asked. She hadn't meant to, but that was what she had always worried about when she and Matt were still hunting.

"You and Matt could get killed in a car accident. If Samuel and I die, Mary's uncles will take care of her. Still raise her as a hunter," Deanna said. She got in her car and drove off without another word.

SSS

At recess, John walked up to the pretty little girl he had seen in the classroom earlier. "Hi, my name's John Winchester."

"I'm Mary Campbell," Mary said.

"Want to swing?" John asked.

"Sure," Mary said. They raced towards the swing set. They each tried to pump higher than the other and then when their swings wouldn't go any higher they jumped off and landed on the ground squealing with delight.

"I like you. Will you be my best friend?" Mary asked.

"Only if you'll be mine," John answered.

"Deal," Mary said, as the teacher called them back into the class.

SSS

"How was your first day of school, Mary?" Samuel asked. Family tradition had them learning that the Supernatural existed at the age of ten. He was going to enjoy every minute of Mary's innocence until that point.

"It was great!" Mary enthused. "First we colored. Then we got to hear a story. We learned about the letter A and then we had recess."

Samuel and Deanna smiled at each other. It had apparently been the most exciting half day of Mary's life. "Did you make any friends?" Deanna asked. She had been a rather awkward, shy child and hadn't had many friends. Mary didn't seem to have that problem, but being a mother she still worried.

"I made tons of friends and I have a best friend," Mary announced proudly.

"What's her name?"

Mary's face fell. She hoped that she hadn't done anything wrong by having a boy as a best friend.

"What's wrong? Do you not remember her name?" Samuel asked. He hated to admit it, but sometimes his daughter showed a tendency towards flightiness and it wouldn't bode well if she couldn't remember her best friend's name.

"No. It's not that, it's just," Mary said and then developed an extraordinary interest in her peas.

"What?" Samuel asked. He was beginning to worry that her best friend was an alien or something.

"My best friend is a boy," Mary said.

Samuel and Deanna laughed. "That's OK, sweetie. I'm sorry I assumed it was a girl," Deanna reassured her. "What's his name."

Mary brightened having found out that she hadn't done anything wrong. "His name's John Winchester." Her joy was short-lived as she saw both her parents glower.

"I don't want you to have anything to do with that boy," Samuel thundered.

"But, Daddy, he's my best friend," Mary cried. True she had only known him for a day, but a girl's best friend is her best friend. There was just no getting around that.

"Your father is right," Deanna said. "We don't want you to associate with that kind of person."

"What kind of person?" Mary asked, not remembering anything odd about him.

"Just you never mind. You are forbidden to be friends with him. Do you understand?" Samuel said sharply.

Mary nodded through her tears. She knew she always had to do what her parents told her, but this made her sad.

Deanna hated to see her daughter crying, but there was no help for it. The Winchesters were weak, selfish people and she wanted her daughter to have no part of them. She decided to try to make up for it somewhat, though. "Want to go for ice cream?"

Mary nodded again, but she could quite stop the tears.

SSS

"How was your first day of school, Johnny?" Matt asked.

"It's John. Johnny is a baby's name," John said.

"Oh. Sorry, John. How was school?" Matt asked again, trying not to smile.

"Good. I have a new best friend."

"Who is it?"

"Her name is Mary Campbell."

Matt and Amy exchanged a surprised glance. For one thing, it wasn't all that common for five year olds to have a best friend of the opposite sex. For another thing, what were the odds?

"That's great, John," Amy said. Maybe this would get them all back together again.

Matt could tell what Amy was thinking and he knew she was wrong. He knew Samuel better than anyone and he never changed his mind on anything. Never.


	4. Tall Tales

"Hi, Mary," John said when he ran into the classroom.

"I'm not allowed to be friends with you," Mary said.

"Why not?" John asked. He didn't know there were rules on who you could be friends with.

"I don't know, but my daddy said I couldn't," Mary said.

"But why?" John asked.

"I don't know," Mary said. "I'm sorry. I really wanted to be best friends with you." She went and sat on the other side of the room.

John sat with some boys and tried his best to ignore her.

SSS

"How was school today, Mary?" Samuel asked.

"I told John I couldn't be his friend," Mary said, sadly.

"Good girl," Samuel said. Mary was a good girl and Samuel loved her with all of his heart.

"He asked me why not," Mary said. "But I didn't know why."

"His whole family is bad, Mary. They are weak and they are bad people and they let other people die."

"Samuel," Deanna chastised as she came in the room. That was too much for the poor girl. Mary's eyes were huge.

"Never mind, Mary. I just don't want you near him. If he bothers you, let me know and I'll talk to his parents," Samuel said.

SSS

"Mary said she wasn't allowed to be my friend," John cried to his mother.

"Oh, John. I'm sorry," Amy said. She hadn't seen this coming. It was one thing to be mad at her and Matt, but to take it out on John was unacceptable.

"Why won't her dad let her play with me?" John asked.

"It has nothing to do with you, John. They don't like your father and me," Amy assured him.

"Why not?" John asked. He couldn't imagine anybody not like his parents. They were the best parents in the whole wide world.

"Just a little disagreement we had a few years ago. Never you mind."

But of course, he couldn't let it go. He asked 752 more questions on the subject, but when he still hadn't received any more enlightenment at bed time, he decided he would finally let it go. At least until morning.

SSS

Mary and some of the girls were playing at recess. Kathy asked Mary what she thought of boys.

"They're OK, I guess," she said. She didn't think any differently of boys and girls, but she knew that a lot of the girls said that boys were yucky.

"Well, I noticed the first day you were playing with that John kid, but now you don't any more. I was wondering if it was because you realized boys were yucky," Kathy said. She just couldn't understand how not everyone shared her view point on the matter. Of course, maybe not everyone else had a brand new baby brother who took their mommy's attention.

"No. I don't think boys are yucky. But John is a bad person. My daddy says all of his family is weak and they let people die all of the time. They probably even kill them. Maybe they eat them, or lock them up in basements," Mary said, thinking of every awful thing she had ever heard of. She couldn't think of any other reason why her father would hate these people so much.

SSS

John was crying when he got home from school. "What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"All the kids are saying that we kill people and eat them and lots of other bad stuff," John said.

"Why would they say that?" Matt asked.

"Mary told them," John admitted. He was glad she didn't want to be his friend because he certainly didn't want to be hers either.

Matt was fuming. He was pretty sure Mary hadn't come up with that on her own. Samuel probably had something to do with it. He took off for the Campbell's house, leaving John and Amy looking after him in amazement. Neither of them had ever seen him so mad.

SSS

"Samuel!" Matt yelled as he rang the doorbell and pounded on the door.

"He's not here," Deanna said when she came to the door. "What's the matter?"

"Your daughter told the whole class that we kill people and eat them," Matt thundered. "You hate us and that's fine, but John's just a child."

Deanna was chastened. "You're right. I'm sorry. Samuel didn't say that, but Mary's just a child, too, and she must have blown everything out of proportion." Deanna realized it was stupid to hate the child because of the parents' sin.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Matt asked. He had been expecting Samuel, so hadn't been expecting such an easy capitulation.

"Well, we can tell Mary that all that stuff isn't true, but that's not going to undo the damage."

Matt sighed. "I'll see if he can switch to the other kindergarten class."

He left. He knew that what Deanna said was right. Once a rumor started there was no undoing it. When he got home, they decided to move to the next town over. Matt's boss was going had just opened another garage over there and wanted a couple of his established mechanics over there. He would talk to his boss in the morning.

SSS

"Mary, did you tell all the kids in your class that John's family killed people and ate them?" Deanna asked at dinner. Samuel had just got home, so she hadn't had time to apprise him of the situation yet. He laughed until she glared at him.

"Not _all_ the kids," Mary said.

"Why would you do that?" Deanna asked.

"It's not true?" she asked.

"Of course not. I want you to apologize to John tomorrow and tell the other kids that you misunderstood and that it's not true."

"OK, Mom." Mary felt bad, but confused.

SSS

"Did you do what I told you to?" Deanna asked her the next day.

"I told everyone it wasn't true, but I couldn't apologize to John."

"Why not?" Samuel asked. He didn't really care if the kid got an apology or not, but if Deanna told Mary to do something, she darn well better do it.

"Because he wasn't there. The teacher said he moved and wouldn't be back."

"Well, then, problem solved," Samuel said relieved that there wouldn't be a Winchester in his daughter's school.


	5. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things

Five years later.

"So, ghosts and monsters are real?" Mary asked when her parent finished telling her what they did for a living.

"Yes," Samuel said.

"And you guys kill them?" she asked.

"Yes, and starting now, you're going to train to kill them, too," Samuel said.

"But, I'm just a little kid," Mary protested, frightened.

"Relax. I said you're going to start to train now. I'm not going to put you out in the field for another couple of years.

Somehow that didn't really allay Mary's fears. "Mom, do I have to?"

"Yes, Mary. Those of us that know the truth have a responsibility," Deanna said as gently as she could. She remembered when she first found out about the supernatural. In her family they waited until the age of 13. She had found out about the supernatural the same day she had started her period. The day had been terrible in all respects.

"How do you kill a ghost? A ghost is a dead person," Mary reasoned. She thought maybe her parents were pulling her leg.

"You salt and burn their bones and then the ghost disappears," Samuel said.

"Where do they go?" Mary asked.

"No idea."

"But if you don't know where they go, how do you know they're gone?" Mary asked.

"Because they're not here any more," Samuel said.

"Come on. It's time to start training."

"Right now?" Mary asked.

"No time like the present."

Samuel took his daughter out to the middle of their fields and set up targets. He handed her a gun and showed her how to load it. He told her to aim at the targets and she hit the bull's eye every time. "I'm so proud of you, Mary," Samuel exulted.

Mary loved to hear her father's praise. She loved him and always wanted to please him. Because of that, she whole-heartedly threw herself into training, but deep down she hated it. And she dreaded the day he would actually take her hunting for something.

SSS

Three years later

"Are you sure she's ready?" Deanna asked.

"It's a simple salt and burn. She's got to start some time," Samuel said. "She knows everything. She's smart. She's picked up everything like that," he said snapping his fingers.

"I know. It's just after this there's no turning back."

"Do you want to turn back? You're always the one going on about responsibility," Samuel pointed out.

"I know, but that was before it was my daughter's responsibility. If anything ever happened to her, I don't think I could take it."

"That's why we hunt as a family. We'll watch each other's back. Nothing's going to happen to her. I promise."

"OK. Does she know we're going tonight?"

"No, I didn't want her fretting about it all day. We'll tell her when she gets home from school."

"And you're sure you know who the ghost is?" Deanna asked.

"Positive. Mary and I did all kinds of research last night. That part she doesn't seem to mind. The training she doesn't mind. It's the fear of putting it into practice. I think that once she's done it, it will be fine. It's the fear of the unknown that's bothering her," Samuel said. He hoped he was right. He didn't want his daughter to be unhappy.

"I'm home," they heard from the living room.

"Mary, come in here," Samuel said.

"Yeah, Dad?" Mary said. At thirteen, she was a little gawky, but still beautiful.

"You need to do your homework now and get it out of the way. Tonight, we're going to do a salt and burn."

Mary blanched. It was starting.

"It'll be fine, Mary. I promise," Samuel said.

Mary nodded and ran upstairs to do her homework. She had trouble seeing the books through her tears but somehow she managed to finish. Even with all the training and research that she helped her dad with, she still managed to get all A's. She wondered what the point was since she had no option but hunting, but her parents always exclaimed over her grades and she had heard her dad bragging about them to some guy in the supermarket once.

At least her whole life wasn't hunting. She had school and after school activities. She had friends. And her parents encouraged all of this. They wanted her to have a full life, but unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, that included hunting.

SSS

"So, who's going to dig?" Mary whispered as she carried a shovel and flashlight, her father a can of gasoline and a shotgun, while her mother carried two shotguns. All of them were filled with rock salt in case the ghost came to defend its grave.

Samuel chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Mary. I'll do the digging. You'll have to eventually, but it will probably work better once you're fully grown. You can hold the flashlight and your mother will cover me with the shot gun. But I want you to be ready to shoot, too, just in case."

Mary nodded. She should have known her father wouldn't throw her in over her head her first time. She would start out just holding the flashlight. He had done everything slowly and in increments. Why should that change now.

"Here we are," her father announced when they had found the grave they were looking for.

Mary handed him the shovel and took one of the shotguns from her mother. She held it carelessly in one hand while pointing the flashlight at the grave while her father worked. Grave digging looked like a lot of work. She wasn't looking forward to when it came time for her to do it.

When her father had gotten down to the grave, a strong wind picked up. Mary was cold to her very bones. "It's coming," Deanna shouted. Mary could barely hear her over the howling wind.

Mary knew from her lessons that strong temperature fluctuations generally denoted supernatural phenomena. She swung the flashlight to look around plunging Samuel into darkness.

"Mary!" her father yelled. He needed the light to see what he was doing.

"Sorry, Dad," Mary apologized and trained the light where it should be.

Deanna was suddenly flung across the graveyard and into a tree. She hadn't even seen the spirit before it attacked.

"Deanna!" Samuel yelled and jumped out of the grave to attend to his wife. He knew he should finish opening up the coffin and burn the remains, but sometimes when his family was involved, he lost sight of reason.

Mary saw the spirit and raised up her shot gun and filled the spirit full of rock salt. Samuel turned from his wife at the sound to see what was happening. "Good work, Mary." Deanna was unconscious but starting to come around. She would be fine.

Mary quickly jumped into the grave and opened up the coffin. She had to tug a few times before the rusty hinges gave way. She doused the bones with gas and quickly spread salt over them. She climbed out of the grave with difficulty, scrabbling at the dirt at the edge. She finally managed to heave herself over the side. Samuel was running back to finish the job. When he saw what Mary had done he just lit the match and dropped them on the bones. The spirit had just reappeared and they watched as it shrieked and flamed out, going who knew where.

"Is everyone OK?" Deanna asked as she made her way over slowly.

"Yeah, are you?" Mary asked. She was scared. Her mother could have been seriously hurt. She could see now why hunting had to be done. That ghost was killing people and had tried to kill her mother. But it was a scary job and she wished that it was someone else's. She wanted a safe, normal life.

"Yes, thanks to you. You did a great job. Especially for your first time," Deanna praised her daughter.

Despite how she felt, Mary beamed. Her parents loved her and were proud of her. That's all any child really wants when you get right down to it.


	6. The Song Remains the Same

Two years later

Fifteen year old Mary was talking to her friend Kathy before school. "What are you doing this weekend?" Kathy asked.

Mary couldn't very well tell her she was hunting a werewolf. Stupid full moon. "My dad's taking us camping," she decided on instead.

"Your father's always taking you off on the weekends. You never get to come to any parties," Kathy whined.

"I know," Mary sighed. The days of after school activities and a normal life were fast getting behind her. Her parents were training her for a life that would be hunting, hunting, hunting. They had wanted her to have a nice childhood, but she was practically an adult now. Her hunting responsibilities came first.

"Who's that new kid?" Kathy asked. She didn't have a very long attention span on any subject. But there was a cute new boy in school and that clearly had to take precedence over anything else.

Mary turned around. There were hardly ever any new kids. "No idea," Mary said, but he intrigued her. There was something about him, but she couldn't decide just what it was.

"I'm going to go introduce myself," Kathy declared.

"You're not?" Mary asked aghast as she blushed.

"It's almost 1970," Kathy declared. As if that explained everything.

Mary decided to tag along behind her friend. Kathy might not be a hunter, but she had more guts than anyone else Mary knew, including her father.

"Hi," Kathy bounced up to the stranger. "My name's Kathy Ward."

"Hi, Kathy. My name's John Winchester." John couldn't help but smile at this bundle of energy.

Mary frowned. She knew that name and she knew she was supposed to hate him. She couldn't really remember why, though. She decided to just keep on walking like she had just happened to be walking behind Kathy and not approaching the new boy with her.

She turned back a couple of times and watched John and Kathy talking. She couldn't figure out why, but she felt a little jealous. She decided she was just jealous that Kathy got to do things like have boyfriends and go to parties. It couldn't have anything to do with John Winchester.

"Who was your friend?" John asked Kathy. He had noticed her come up, but then she seemed to veer off. He figured she was shy. She was pretty, though. He didn't think he had ever seen anyone prettier in his whole life.

"Mary Campbell," Kathy said. "What are you doing this weekend? I'm having a party."

John was a bit distracted. He remembered Mary vaguely. He knew that she was the reason they had been forced to move way back when. He muttered something to Kathy about getting back to her and having to find his class and moved off.

Kathy shrugged. That was weird, but she knew plenty of boys. Filling up her party would not be a problem. Although, she did like a man of mystery.

SSS

"So, there's a new kid in school," Mary began tentatively at dinner.

"Oh, yeah?" Samuel asked distracted. He was thinking of the werewolf hunt this weekend. They had missed it on the last full moon. By the time they had figured out what was going on, it was the day of the full moon. They hadn't had time to prepare. They had to get it on the first day of the cycle this month, so it couldn't kill anyone else. Luckily the first day was Saturday, so Mary wouldn't have to miss any school.

"John Winchester's back in town," Mary said, watching her parents' reaction. There wasn't any. "I remember I'm supposed to hate him, but don't remember why. Want to fill in the details."

"We never wanted you to hate him," Deanna corrected her. "We just didn't think he was a suitable friend for you."

Mary rolled her eyes at the distinction. "OK, but why?" she persisted.

"We used to hunt with his parents," Samuel began.

"He's a hunter?" Mary asked. Maybe that was what she had sensed about him.

"No. After his father got my brother killed, they dropped out of hunting."

This was news to Mary. She hadn't realized that it was possible to drop out of hunting. She thought once you were a hunter you were always a hunter. "I didn't know you could do that."

"You shouldn't. Think of how many lives they could have saved in the past 15 years if they had continued hunting," Deanna said.

"They're selfish, weak cowards," Samuel added.

Mary just nodded. She had never told her parents how she had felt about hunting because she thought they would be disappointed in her. Now she knew that for a fact. "May I be excused? I have a lot of homework to get done so I can concentrate on the hunt this weekend."

"Of course, Mary," her father smiled at her. His daughter always had her priorities in the right place.

SSS

"So, how was your first day at the new school?" Matt asked. They had moved back to Lawrence because the shop Matt had been working at in the other town had closed down and his boss had brought him back to the old one. He figured all those rumors from 10 years ago would have died down by now.

"It was OK. I met this really intense girl, Kathy. She's something else." John had finally accepted her invitation to the party. He thought he might ask her to the movies sometime, too.

Amy smiled secretly at Matt. John was getting to be a regular Don Juan.

"I ran into Mary Campbell, too," he said in an off-handed manner.

"Did she say anything?" Matt asked.

"Nope. Totally avoided me."

"That's probably for the best," Amy said.

Matt nodded and John agreed. He wanted nothing to do with that snobby Mary Campbell.

SSS

When Mary saw John the next day, she couldn't help but wonder if he even knew about the supernatural. Did his parents tell him, or were they totally keeping him in the dark.

"What are you looking at?" John asked, when he noticed Mary staring at him.

Mary was taken aback by his tone and a little embarrassed. " Nothing much," she said as disdainfully as she could.

John huffed and walked away. She hadn't gotten any nicer since kindergarten. That was for sure.


	7. Fresh Blood

The Campbells had driven to Chicago Friday night. Saturday night they were down by the docks where all the killings had taken place.

"Is this really the best place for a 15 year old girl to hang out on the weekends?" May asked, half joking, half serious.

"Don't worry, Mary. Nobody will bother you while I'm around," Samuel reassured her.

Mary looked up at her dad, her hero. Suddenly, she realized he had gotten old. When had that happened? He was still full of energy and could hunt. But his hair had turned white and a lot of it had fallen out. She realized, almost for the first time, that her father wouldn't always be around. She turned away, so nobody would see the tears forming in her eyes.

SSS

John and Kathy were making out in a little corner of her house with the party raging around them.

"Want to go steady?" Kathy asked. She usually like to flit from guy to guy, but even though she had only known John a few days, she knew he was different.

"Sure," John said. This girl was kind of forward, but he kind of liked it.

They resumed their kissing.

SSS

They heard the growl of the werewolf before they saw it. Samuel went out to divert its attention. The werewolf ignored him, though. He could smell women and that was its prey of choice. Deanna had been hiding behind some crates on one side of the docks and Mary on the other. Samuel was just realizing that the werewolf was not coming at him when he noted it zipping over to where Mary was hiding. Samuel and Deanna both shot at it hitting him in the heart with two silver bullets, but the werewolf had a chance to sink its claws into Mary's leg.

"Mary, Mary," Samuel yelled once he had made sure that the werewolf was dead and couldn't hurt her anymore.

"It hurts, Daddy," Mary cried.

Mary hadn't called him Daddy since she was ten. It broke his heart. He gently picked her up. Deanna had run to get the car. As soon as she drove up, Samuel placed Mary in the back seat and got in with her.

"How is she?" Deanna asked anxiously.

"She's losing a lot of blood. We need a hospital," Samuel said. Hunters didn't usually go to hospitals. There were too many questions. But, Samuel was not taking a chance with his baby girl.

Deanna sped into the nearest hospital and Samuel carried Mary into the ER. "I need help!" he yelled.

"What happened?" a doctor asked.

"She got attacked by a dog," Samuel said.

"What kind of dog?" the doctor asked. He had never seen anything like this. If they weren't in the middle of the city, he would have thought it was a wolf.

"I don't know. I didn't really see. It all happened so fast."

"OK," the doctor said. It didn't really matter anyway. He needed to give this girl a transfusion and stitch up her leg before she lost any more blood.

SSS

Samuel and Deanna paced the waiting room. "She's going to be fine," the doctor said as he entered the room.

"Really?" Samuel asked. He almost couldn't believe it. He had been imagining the worst.

"It turned out to be not as bad as it looked. She's going to need to stay in bed for a few days to get her strength back and her leg is going to be sore for a few weeks, but besides some scarring, there will be no permanent damage.

"Thanks, Doc," Samuel said.

SSS

Samuel answered the phone when it rang. They had got back to town late Sunday night, and decided Mary could take the whole week off from school to recover. The school had told him he could come in the next day to pick up Mary's homework assignments, and Mary had just slept most of the day away. She had woken up a few minutes ago.

"Hi, Mr. Campbell. It's Kathy. I noticed Mary wasn't in school today and I just wanted to make sure she was OK."

"Yeah. She got attacked by a dog when we went camping and needs to spend a few days in bed," Samuel said. He really didn't care for this Kathy girl too much. She was flighty. She didn't seem to be influencing Mary in a bad way, though, so he allowed the friendship to continue. It was good for Mary to have a friend outside the hunting community for now. When she was an adult, that would have to change. "I'm sure she would love some company if you wanted to come visit."

"OK," Kathy said. She was dying to tell Mary her news.

SSS

"Does it hurt?" Kathy winced when Mary showed her her leg.

"Not too bad," Mary said.

"See, this is why you should have come to my party," Kathy said.

Mary couldn't argue with that. "How was it?"

Just the opening Kathy had been hoping for. "It was great. You'll never guess what happened." Of course Kathy continued on without even giving Mary the opportunity to guess. "John and I are going steady."

"John Winchester?" Mary asked.

Kathy nodded vigorously. "He's the best. I hope we get married some day."

Again, Mary didn't know why, but she felt irrationally jealous by this news. "That's just stupid. Who would want to marry John Winchester? He's just awful."

"You take that back, Mary," Kathy screamed.

"No. You're stupid and he's stupid and I hope you both die," Mary railed back.

"What is going on in here?" Deanna asked. She had come in response to all the yelling.

"Kathy's an idiot," Mary said.

"You're daughter is a mean, spiteful girl," Kathy said as she trounced out of the room.

Deanna looked after her in amazement. "You two have been best friends for years. What on earth happened?"

"She's going steady with John Winchester," Mary fumed.

"So?"

"So? You said he wasn't suitable," Mary reminded her.

"For you. He's perfectly fine for someone like Kathy."

"Just leave me alone," Mary said and turned to her pillow to cry. She had just lost her one really good friend. And for some reason, she thought she had lost something far more important.


	8. My Bloody Valentine

Three years later

John and Kathy were sitting in the ice cream shop drinking shakes. "So, we graduate next week. What are your plans?" John asked. He had been going with Kathy for three years and he realized that she had no ambition. He was hoping that was all about to change.

Kathy thought maybe John was going to ask her to marry him. "I want to get married," she said. That would make it easy for him, she decided.

"But, what do you want to do for a job?" John persisted.

"My husband will take care of me."

"For someone who tries to be ahead of her time, you're setting the woman's movement back a few years," John pointed out. "On the other hand, my mom stayed home to take care of me, so I suppose there's nothing wrong with that."

"Oh. I don't want to have kids," Kathy said quickly. She couldn't imagine anything worse.

"You don't?" John asked. He thought all women wanted children.

"No. I'm not sure I'd make a good mother."

John decided since they were about to start their lives as adults, he needed to break things off with her. They weren't after the same things. "Kathy, I think we need to talk."

"Yes?" she asked expectantly. John was old fashioned. She was surprised he wasn't down on one knee.

"I think it's time we break up." He couldn't think of a nice way to do it. There were just some things you needed to say straight out.

"What?" Kathy asked. She was heartbroken. But, she couldn't let him see that. "You're probably right. It was fun while it lasted, though."

John was relieved. He was afraid there were going to be tears.

"So, what are you going to do?" Kathy asked, not quite willing to leave yet. She was torturing herself, but she wanted to be around him, even if just for a few more minutes.

"I'm going to join the Marines," John said.

"What? You do know there's a war going on, right?" Kathy didn't pay a lot of attention to current events, but even she couldn't miss what was going on in Vietnam.

"Yes. That's why I'm doing it."

"Well, good luck, John," Kathy said and stood up to go. She wasn't going to be able to keep from crying much longer. "Send me a letter every once in a while to let me know you're alive."

"Yeah. Sure," John said. He would miss Kathy. She was a breath of fresh air. Even after three years.

SSS

Heaven

Zachariah approached one of the so-called Cupid angels. "I have an assignment for you."

"Yes, sir?" all the cupids hated Zachariah. He was so arrogant and officious.

"John Winchester and Mary Campbell."

The cupid gasped. A Winchester and a Campbell? So they were really going to do this. Get the ball rolling on the Apocalypse.

"Don't stand their with your mouth gaping open. Go do your thing. Get those two crazy kids together."

"Yes, sir," the cupid answered reluctantly. He didn't want to do this. But nobody crossed Zachariah. It wasn't good for one's health.

SSS

The cupid found Mary standing outside a store on Main Street. He was invisible to her, and he reached in and touched her heart. He carved John upon it. Then he saw John coming out of the recruitment office across the street. He did the same thing. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head. There was no going back from what he had just done.

Mary looked up and saw John Winchester coming out of the Marine recruitment center. He nearly bumped into her. "I'm sorry," he said automatically as he looked to see who he had bumped. "Mary? I haven't seen you in a while." He didn't feel the usual antipathy towards her that he usually felt.

"What are you doing? Did you join the Marines?" Mary asked surprised. That didn't sound like something a weak, selfish coward would do.

"Yeah. I leave in a couple of weeks," he said.

"How does Kathy feel about that?" Mary really missed her friend. They hadn't spoken since that day in her bedroom.

"We broke up," John said.

Mary felt so happy about that she was ashamed of herself. "I'm sorry," she lied.

"Want to go get a shake?" John asked. He had no idea why he had done it. Mary hated him. She was obviously going to say no.

"OK," she surprised both of them.

"So, what are your plans?" John asked Mary as they walked to the ice cream shop.

There was a long silence. Mary didn't know how to answer that. "My dad needs help with his business," she said.

"What does he do?"

"It's kind of complicated," Mary said. "Do you know how long you'll be gone?" Mary asked to change the subject.

"Two years," John answered.

Two years without John around. It suddenly seemed like a lifetime. Mary wondered what was wrong with her. She had barely spoken ten words to him in the past three years. What difference did it make if he weren't around any more?

They sat over their shakes for two hours. Mary had no idea what they had talked about, but she floated home on a cloud.

"Where were you?" Samuel asked, angrily. She was supposed to be helping him figure out where a vampire nest was.

"Sorry, Dad. My last weekend as a high school student. I lost track of time."

Samuel realized that Mary was always where she was supposed to be. He had just been worried. Next week Mary would be hunting full time. He could give her this one last weekend. "Why don't you take the rest of the weekend off."

"Really?" Mary asked.

"Really. But you know, no more fun and games after next week."

"I know," Mary nodded sadly. "Can I have a two week vacation? Just two weeks? Please."

Samuel nodded. "But this will be the last time."

SSS

John and Mary spent the whole two weeks together. They went to the movies. They went shopping. They spent every hour together until they had to go home for the night. Finally, came the day when John had to leave.

"Don't go, John," Mary cried.

"You know I have to," John said.

"I know. And that's why I love you."

Neither of them had said the word yet. "I love you, too," John said. "Will you wait for me?"

Mary nodded through her tears.

Neither of them told their parents, though. Neither could imagine their reactions.


	9. Family Matters

SSS

Two years later

Mary and John had faithfully exchanged letters during his time at war. Mary always ran out to the mailbox, making sure her parents couldn't beat her there. If they saw the name Winchester on the return envelope it would have been bad.

One day she received a letter telling her he was coming home. She could hardly contain her joy. "What are you so happy about?" Samuel asked as they dug a grave.

"Life," Mary answered. Then she decided she had to tell him the truth. She knew that John was going to ask her to marry him when he got home. He had intimated as much in his letters. "I'm in love."

"With who?" Samuel asked as he poured gas on the bones and Mary salted them. Deanna had stayed home. She was hunting less and less as she got older.

Mary waited until the match was lit and the bones were burning. Then she took a deep breath and said, "John Winchester."

"I had heard he joined the Marines. I was surprised at that. Comes from a cowardly family."

"He's not a coward," Mary fairly shouted, forgetting where they were and what they were doing.

"Shh," Samuel said.

Mary recollected herself and continued in a whisper. "He's brave and kind and sweet. He's everything a hunter isn't. "

"Hunters stick together, Mary."

They fell silent as they refilled the grave. They didn't say a word as they drove the five hours back home. Mary went straight to her room and went to sleep.

Samuel went and woke Deanna. "Mary's in love with John Winchester."

"Maybe it's not so bad," Deanna said. Sometimes she wished that they had taken the road that the Winchesters had chosen. She was sick and tired of hunting. She was tired of worrying about her husband and daughter. She was tired of lying to everyone they knew. Basically, she was just tired.

SSS

John's parents met him at the bus stop and brought him home. They were so excited to see him.

"I have something to tell you guys," John said.

His voice was so serious that Amy braced for the worst. "What is it?"

"I fell in love with someone before I left. We've been writing and I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"Well, that's wonderful," Amy gushed, wondering why the serious tone.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Matt asked.

"Mary Campbell."

This declaration was met with dead silence. Finally, Amy said, "That's great."

"Do you mean it?" John asked.

"Yes. We used to be friends with her parents. When you were babies, you and Mary were as close as babies can get," Amy said.

"What happened?" John asked. He was curious. He had asked Mary a couple of times, but she has said she didn't know.

"Ancient history," Matt said. "We were all friends once. Something happened. Your mother and I changed and we went our separate ways. We bear them no ill will."

"You should invite Mary over for dinner," Amy said.

"After I ask her," John promised.

"And when will that be?" Matt asked.

"This weekend. I don't want to scare her by doing it too soon after I get back."

SSS

John met Mary on Main Street like they had planned in their letters. "This is silly, Mary. You have to tell your parents about us," John said after he greeted her with a hug and a kiss.

"I did," Mary said.

"And?"

"Dad's not happy," Mary said. She didn't add that it was an understatement.

"Maybe I should talk to him," John suggested.

"That's probably not a good idea."

It was late in the evening and they were strolling through downtown. They were walking by the used car lot. "I need to get a car," John realized.

"You should get that van," Mary said, pointing at a VW van. It looked like something a family man would drive.

"You think so?" John asked. It didn't really seem like him.

"Definitely," Mary said and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"OK, I'll get it, then. For you," John said.

Mary glowed on the inside. If John was going to by a car on her advice, he was definitely going to ask her to marry him.

"I have to get home," Mary said.

"Want me to walk you," John offered.

"No. Better not. Come pick me up after you buy that van tomorrow," Mary said.

"It's a date."

He went back home. His dad said he had a job lined up for him at the garage he worked at. He could start next week. Things were really starting to fall into place.

SSS

John had some errands to run so he set out early in the morning. He ended up at Jay Bird's Diner. He had finished his breakfast and was drinking his coffee when a man came in and sat next to him.

"Hey, where are we?" he asked.

"Uh, Jay's Bird Diner," John answered.

"Yeah, thanks. I mean city and state."

Who didn't know what city and state they were in? "Lawrence, Kansas."

For some reason that really seem to affect the guy. "Are you OK?" John asked. This man seemed older than him, but for some reason John felt like he should be taking care of him.

"Yeah."

"Coffee," John said to the guy behind the counter and pointed to the stranger.

His dad's friend Mr. Warner walked in. "Hey, Winchester. You're back."

"Hey, Mr. Warner."

"How's your old man doing?"

"He's good."

"Good, tell him I said, hi."

John assured him that he would and as he turned back to his coffee and paper, he noticed the stranger looking at him oddly. "Do I know you?"

"No, guess not," he answered.

John picked up his stuff and left. That guy was kind of giving him the creeps. Besides he had a car to buy and a date to keep.

He went to the car lot. He was talking to the dealer about the van. But his eyes kept cutting over to a Chevy over in the corner. It was like it was calling to him. He shook hands with the dealer and waited while he went inside to get paperwork.

"That's not the one you want." John looked up to see the stranger from the diner.

"Are you following me?" he asked.

"No. Just passing by. Thought I'd return the favor." He led John over to the very Chevy he had been looking at.

"This is the one you want." He went on to give all of its selling points.

"I know." John admitted.

"Then why are you buying that thing?"

"I promised someone."

"Over a '67 Chevy. Trust me. This thing is still going to be bad ass when it's 40."

Something told John that this guy absolutely knew he spoke the truth. He stuck out his hand. "John Winchester."

"Dean Van Halen," the man said after a moment's hesitation.

Then things turned odd again. He started asking him about sulphur smells, and cold spots, and cattle mutilation. "OK, Mister, just stop it."

He muttered something and walked off. The dealer came back out and John told him he changed his mind. He wanted the buy the '67 Chevy Impala. The man went in to change the paperwork and a short while later the deal was done.


	10. Crossroad Blues

John pulled up to the Campbell house and watched as Mary snuck out of an upstairs window and shimmied down the drain pipe. He shook his head. If her parents were this against him, maybe she wouldn't want to marry him.

"What's this?" she asked. "What happened to the van?"

"Mary, this is better than the van." He started giving her all its attributes.

All she could see was that it didn't look like a family car. It almost looked like something a hunter would drive. "I hate it," she said petulantly, but got in. She may hate it, but she loved John. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a guy in a car across the street. It didn't necessarily mean anything. He could be waiting for someone. After a couple of minutes of driving, though, she was in no doubt that the man was following them.

"Let's go get a shake," she said.

"OK," John agreed. She saw the man pull up behind them and as they were sitting at a table next to a window, she saw him getting in position outside to watch them without being seen. She would take care of him later.

She ordered a strawberry shake and John got a chocolate one.

"John, it isn't personal," she said after he brought up her father again.

"How many years has he been like this? And it's not personal?"

"He's just protective," Mary lamely defended. She couldn't tell John the real story. Then she would have to admit about hunting. She wouldn't do that.

"You mean he doesn't want you to marry a mechanic from a family of mechanics," John clarified.

"No!" Mary said. She would not allow John to denigrate himself. There was nothing wrong with being a mechanic. She loved that he was everything that her father didn't want him to be. "I love you for exactly who you are." Then she remembered the man outside. "I'll be right back."

She went to the back like she was going to the bathroom and snuck outside. She crept up on the man watching John through the window. "Why are you following us," she asked.

He spun around, clearly not expecting her. He started to answer, but she attacked. Her father always said, shoot first ask questions later. But this guy was good. He fought back. He pinned her against the wall and then suddenly let her go when he noticed her bracelet. "You're a hunter?"

"Who are you?" she asked. "What do you know about hunters?"

"I'm a hunter, too. My name's Dean."

Mary looked back towards John. "I need to get back. Meet me back at my place." With that she disappeared back inside.

She leisurely finished her shake and then it was time for John to take her home. "I thought there was something you were going to ask me?"

"Tomorrow," John said. He was going to stick to his original time table.

Mary smiled. "Can't wait."

She got out of the car and watched until John drove off. Dean walked up. "I don't know if you should be here," she said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"My dad," she began.

"Oh, I have to meet him," he said excitedly.

"You've heard of him?" They only hunted with family. Her father tried to keep them off the general hunting network.

"Clearly not enough."

Mary wasn't sure what that meant, but she led him inside. "Dad, I want you to meet someone."

Samuel turned around expecting to see that awful John Winchester. He was pleasantly surprised to find it was someone else. "Dad, this is Dean. He's a hunter."

"Oh, yeah? How do you kill a vampire, silver bullet or wooden stake?"

"Neither. You chop their head off."

"Fine, you're a hunter. Now get out."

"Dad!" Mary exclaimed.

"Now, Samuel," Deanna scolded. "He passed your test and now I'm inviting him to dinner."

"Samuel and Deanna?" Dean asked Mary.

Mary nodded, wondering why Dean seemed to fixate on their names. She shrugged. Probably wasn't important.

SSS

"So, Samuel, you working a job?" Dean asked after they had sat down to dinner.

"Maybe."

"What's that mean?" Dean asked.

"It means I don't trust other hunters."

Mary rolled her eyes. If she had a dime for every time her father said he didn't trust people, she'd be a millionaire.

What about you? Are you working a job?" Samuel turned the tables.

"I don' t trust other hunters either."

Mary smiled. This was the first time she had met someone who could take on her father. She liked this guy. Then she remembered how they met. "So, why were you following me and John?"

"I thought something was after your boyfriend. I don't think that any more."

"John Winchester, mixing it up with spirits," Deanna said sarcastically, while Samuel grunted. Mary thought she saw an odd look pass across Dean's face, but once again she couldn't decipher it's meaning.

SSS

The next day after Samuel and Mary had run into Dean at the Wiltshire farm, he came in to see her while she was looking through her disco records. She knew that John preferred rock and she would probably have to get used to that, but maybe he could get used to her music too.

"Just wanted to say good-bye."

"You're leaving?" Mary asked. She had only met him yesterday, but she felt like she would really miss him. It was weird. She had never just clicked with someone like that. It had almost seemed that way with John, but she had known him for years before it had happened. This was totally out of the blue. Of course, it was different. He felt more like a brother than someone she would want to date, even if it hadn't been for John.

"Yeah. Don't worry about what your dad says, I like that John kid."

"Really?" Mary asked. She wasn't sure why, but Dean's good opinion meant a lot to her. "He's going to ask me to marry him tonight." She was bursting to tell someone and her parents would just turn it into bad news, instead of the wonderful news that it really was.

"That's great."

"You know what my worst fear is? It's that my children would be raised into this. With John, that won't happen." When Mary said that, she noticed a change go over Dean's face. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm going to tell you something and I need you to promise to remember no matter how strange it sounds."

"OK."

"November 2, 1983, don't get out of bed. No matter what you hear, just don't get out of bed."

"OK," Mary said. Maybe her dad was right about other hunters. This one was beginning to seem a little off. He left without another word.

She saw him again a few hours later at her friend Liddy's house. There was a confrontation with that yellow eyed demon Charlie had told them about. He had said he liked her and that scared her more than anything.

SSS

Later that night when John went to get Mary, she ran out of the house crying. "Are you OK?" he asked.

"You promised you would take me away," she said.

"Of course."

"Then do it. Now. Tonight."

He opened the door for her and drove her to the lake. "Mary, I think you know why I brought you out here."

Suddenly, Mary realized this wasn't fair. She had been lying to John about who she was. "Wait. There are things you don't know about me."

"I don't care about any of that," he said. "I love you and I'll find out everything about you in our life together."

Mary looked up to see her father yanking open John's door.

"Dad!" she yelled wondering what had gotten into him.

"Sir, wait," John said. He knew Mary's father didn't like him but this was a little over the top.

Mary screamed as she watched her father break John's neck. She ran to John and fell down next to him. She pulled his head up into her lap. "You killed him." She accused. She watched as her father's eyes flicked to yellow. In a strange way she was relieved. She had actually thought that her father had killed John. But here was that creature from earlier in the night. The one that said he liked her.

"Not just John, sweetie-pie. Mommy and Daddy, too, he said as he opened up his jacket to reveal his blood-stained midsection.

Mary stared at him in horror. She was all alone. Yeah, she had a couple of uncles, but it wasn't the same. She had a high school education, but didn't really know how to do anything but hunt. She didn't know what was to become of her. Then, she felt extremely guilty. Three dead people and she was worried about herself.

"I'll make you a deal," the demon said.

"You want my soul?" Mary asked.

"No. You can keep your soul. I'll bring John back."

"My parents, too?" Mary asked, hopefully. She and her father had been arguing lately, but she loved him.

"Nope. That's not on the table." Those Campbells were good hunters. He wanted to keep them out of the way.

"What do you want?" Mary asked. No demon did anything out of the goodness of their hearts.

"I just need to stop by your house in ten years."

"For what?" Mary snapped.

"Nothing you'll miss. If I'm not interrupted, nobody will get hurt."

Mary looked down at John. She couldn't bear to lose him. "OK," she cried.

The demon pulled her to him and kissed her. She was totally grossed out. She was kissing a demon inside of her father. She wanted to gag.

When she was finally allowed to pull away, she looked up and saw Dean. There was a man in a trench coat next to him. Dean had the Colt. He went to aim it, but the demon smoked out of her father. She looked back down at John. When she looked up again, Dean and the man were gone. She was beginning to wonder if she imagined them.

"Mary?" John asked. Her father had attacked him. He thought he had broken his neck, but he must be wrong. He couldn't have done much at all. Nothing seemed to be wrong with him. He looked just past Mary and saw her father bloody behind her. "What happened?"

"My dad went crazy. He came here and attacked you. While you were unconscious, he told me that he had killed my mother and then he stabbed himself," she sobbed.

John was shocked. He didn't know what to say. "We need to call the cops," was what he finally came up with.

Mary nodded. They went back to town and called the police. The police confirmed that her mother was dead, but suggested she didn't look. She went back home with John that night.

"Hi," Amy said cheerfully, but then noticed that something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Mary's father killed himself and her mother tonight," John said.

"John, why don't you and your father leave us alone for a few minutes? Mary probably needs another woman right now."

Mary nodded to John. She needed to talk with another hunter right now.

When Matt and John had left, Amy said, "What really happened?"

"My dad got possessed by a demon," she said through sobs.

"I'm so sorry," Amy said.

"John just asked me to marry him, but if you don't want me to I'll understand."

"Nonsense," she said. "You're not going to tell him about hunting are you, though?" It was Mary's choice and then it would be John's. She and Matt had already decided that they couldn't control this situation, but she was curious.

"Definitely not. I want out," Mary said emphatically.

"Get some sleep, sweetie," Amy said, and led her up to the spare bedroom.


	11. Family Remains

The three Winchesters were sitting at the breakfast table when Mary finally came downstairs. "I'm sorry I slept so late."

"Don't be ridiculous," Matt said. "You take all the time you need. Is there anything we can do for you? Do you need help with arrangements?"

"I called one of my uncles last night. He's going to take care of everything. They're going to be cremated." She figured Matt and Amy would expect that.

"Is there going to be a service or anything?" John asked. He wasn't sure how he would feel about going to the service of a man who tried to kill him, but if Mary needed him to do that, he would.

"No. We're not much for that kind of thing in my family. Life is for the living and all that. I hope you don't think that makes me seem cold," Mary was worried that she would be putting these people off.

"Not at all. Sound smart," Amy said. "And we can definitely see that you're hurting."

"John?" Mary said. She didn't know how to say this next part.

"Yeah?"

"Do you still want to marry me?"

"Of course," John said and stood up and took her in his arms. "We can wait until you're ready, though."

"I'm ready now. I want to drive to Vegas and get married now."

"Are you sure?" John asked.

"It does sound like a good idea," Amy said. Mary needed some stability right now. She only hoped it wasn't the only reason she was marrying John. But it sounded like they had pretty much planned to get married before all this happened, so it didn't sound like it.

"Really?" John asked. He had once heard you shouldn't make any major decisions right after a tragedy.

Matt was pulling out his wallet. "Consider this a wedding gift. Go."

They went. They got married. They spent two weeks driving back. Matt told John the manager at the garage said the job could wait a couple of weeks. They saw the Grand Canyon and the second largest ball of twine in the United States. It was awesome.

SSS

When they got back, Mary called her uncle Ed. He was the one she was closest to. She asked him to come down.

While John was at work, they sat in the Winchester's kitchen and talked.

"So, what happened, Mary?"

"A new hunter came to town. A Dean Van Halen. Have you ever heard of him?"

Ed shook his head.

"Well, anyway, he was hunting this yellow-eyed demon."

"Wait, wait, a demon with yellow eyes? There's no such thing," Ed protested.

"Believe me, there is," Mary said. "Long story short, he ended up possessing Dad. Then he killed Mom, Dad, and John."

"John? You just married John," Ed was totally confused.

"I'm so ashamed," Mary started to cry.

"It's OK, sweetie, go on."

"The demon told me he could bring John back."

"You sold your soul?" Ed asked aghast.

"No. He said he didn't want my soul. He said he was going to swing by for something in ten years."

"What?"

"He didn't say," Mary admitted.

"Don't worry. I'll look into this," Ed promised. It was the least he could do for his only niece.

1976

Matt had started his own garaged and hired John, of course, a year earlier. He was a better mechanic than a business man though and in about a year it went belly up.

"I'm sorry, John. I should have never suggested you leave your stable job."

"That's OK, Dad. I'll land on my feet. But, what are you going to do?"

"Your mother and I are at the age to retire anyway. We're going to do the normal thing and move to Florida."

They were all seated around the table and Amy and Mary smiled at the phrase "the normal thing." John of course had no idea why. He had noticed over the years his parents had a special fondness for anything they considered normal. Mary seemed to share this trait.

"Well, we sure will miss you," Mary said. Matt and Amy had become like a second set of parents to her. She couldn't believe that her parents had spent so much time and energy hating these good, honest people. So what if they didn't want to hunt? And of course, that always made her feel guilty, because she knew her father would be sorely disappointed if he could see her now.

"We'll miss you, too. But that's why they invented phones. And we'll visit when we can. When you have kids, you'll have to bring them down to Disney World."

"Consider it done," John said.

The next few days were spent helping them get ready for the move and all too soon they were gone.

SSS

1978

"John. I'm pregnant," Mary said.

Mary wasn't sure how he was going to take the news. He had been out of work for a few weeks. The garage he had been working for since his dad had gone out of business had cut down its work force by half.

John whooped and picked Mary up and spun her around. "Oh, no. I didn't hurt the baby did I?" he asked anxiously.

"No," Mary laughed.

"This is great timing. My friend Charlie and I finally got the financing to open our own garage today."

"That is good timing," Mary agreed. She didn't think she could ever be happier.

(A/N: I skipped the whole The Song Remains the Same Thing because Michael wiped their memories, so if they don't remember it, it didn't happen, right?)

SSS

January 24th 1979

Matt and Amy were flying in for the birth of their first grandchild. Mary went into labor a little early, though, so they were still in the air when he entered the world. John and Mary were kind of glad, though. It gave them a while alone with their new son.

Mary was laying in the hospital bed with the child in her arms and John was sitting on the edge of the bed, glancing down at them. "What should we name him?" John asked.

"Samuel," Mary suggested.

"I don't know," John hedged. He knew that Mary loved her father, but he was a killer. "How about we name him Dean after your mother."

"OK," Mary agreed. She had been closer to her father, but maybe that's why she should name her son after her mother. Make up for the times she spent hanging out with her dad instead.

"Dean Ames Winchester," John added.

"Ames?" Mary asked.

"Yes. We'll name him after your mother and my mother."

"Excellent," Mary concurred.

That was when Matt and Amy arrived. "He's beautiful," Amy gushed. "What's his name?"

"Dean Ames Winchester," the proud parents answered together.

"After your mother," Amy said in approval.

"After you too, Mom," John said.

She looked confused for a moment. Then she understood. "Nobody has ever called me Ames, but I think I might make that my new nickname."

Everyone laughed even though it wasn't particularly funny.


	12. Born Under a Bad Sign

Christmas 1982

Matt and Amy came to Kansas for Christmas. It was their first time visiting since Dean was born. They wished they were able to get there more often, but they just didn't have the money. They did talk to the family every week on the phone, though. Dean loved talking to Grammy and Grampy.

When John answered the door, Dean came running in. "Grammy! Grampy!" he yelled.

"Dean, you look even bigger than in your pictures," Amy said as Matt scooped him up.

"Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!" he shouted.

Amy laughed. "I have no idea. What?"

"Mommy and Daddy say I'm going to be a big brother."

That wasn't how they had planned on telling them, but this was even better. Mary walked in from the other room just then.

"Oh, Mary. Another baby. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks. We're so excited. With John and me not having any siblings, we both wondered if we were missing out on something. We wanted to make sure Dean didn't."

"I'm going to be the bestest big brother ever."

"I bet you will be," Matt said as he put his grandson on the floor.

SSS  
>Matt and Amy stayed for a week. They hated to leave. "We'll be back the end of April for the birth of the baby. Not going to take any chances on you being early and us missing it again," Amy said.<p>

Mary laughed. "Sorry about that. My due date is May 5th. So, if you're here by the end of April, you shouldn't miss it."

John offered to drive them to the airport, but they said they would take a cab. A half an hour later the phone rang. There had been a car accident. Matt and Amy Winchester were dead.

John and Mary were devastated, but they had to keep it together for Dean. Plus, it wasn't good for the baby for Mary to get too upset. The days dragged on.

SSS

May 2nd, 1983

John left Dean with his partner Charlie and went to the hospital to await the birth of his second child. He kind of hoped this one was a girl. He wanted a little Mary running around.

"It's a boy," the doctor said when he came out.

John was not disappointed. He loved his son as much as he would have a daughter.

"Let's name this one Samuel," John said.

"But, I thought," Mary said, not quite knowing how to finish the sentence.

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life holding a grudge against your father. You loved him and he loved you and that's all that matters. I don't know what happened at the end of his life. Maybe he had a brain tumor or something."

"Samuel Matthew it is then," Mary said.

John smiled through his tears. He missed his parents so much. He knew Mary did, too. She also missed hers. He hoped they would be around a long time for their kids. Neither of them saw the man with the yellow eyes smiling at them from the hallway.

SSS

They had fulfilled their heavenly purpose and the writing fell off of their hearts. John slowly felt his feelings for Mary change, but he could figure out exactly how. Mary was so wrapped up in the children she didn't notice.

SSS

Three months later

"Mary, I think we need a break," John said.

"What?" Mary asked confused.

"I'm just not sure I can live this life any more. I don't know if I'm cut out to be a husband and father."

"Where is this coming from?" Mary demanded. She had to admit, the first flush of love had faded a little in the last few months, but surely that was normal. They were settling in to the second phase of their life.

"Charlie said I could stay with him for a few days. I'll go say good-bye to Dean."

SSS

Two days later

Mary hadn't heard anything from John. She had no idea what was happening. She didn't even have a job. If John left her how would she and the kids live? That made her realize it was time for Dean's lunch. She walked up to his room where he was playing with his little cars.

"Are you hungry, Dean?"

Dean nodded vigorously. Mary didn't think he ever answered that question in the negative. They went downstairs and she made him a peanut butter sandwich. She was keeping an ear open for Sammy.

"Want me to cut the crust off?"

"Yes, please," Dean said.

Mary smiled. Dean was so polite. The phone rang. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mary, I need more time to think."

"No, John. You have two young boys at home. You belong here." She turned away from Dean. He didn't need to hear this.

But, Dean was hearing it. He was mad at Daddy. How could he make mommy sad like this? When she got off the phone, Dean decided to make everything better. He walked over to him and she got down on her knees to his level. "It's OK, mommy. I still love you."

"You are my little angel," Mary said and hugged him tightly. John might be a jerk, but his son was perfect.

SSS

One week later

John showed up on the front doorstep with his suitcase. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's OK," Mary said. If she had learned anything from her father, it was that holding a grudge, only caused the grudge holder pain. Whatever was going on with John seemed to be over.

John had spent the last couple of weeks analyzing his feelings. His feelings had changed, but he still loved Mary. It was just a different kind of love. He wasn't sure why or how. All he did know was that he couldn't live without her.

"Daddy!" Dean yelled and ran up to him. John swept him up.

"Hey, Dean."

"Do you promise never to leave again?"

"I promise," John said as he looked over Dean at Mary. She smiled at him. She could tell he meant it.


	13. Bloody Mary

November 2, 1983

Mary heard Sammy over the monitor. "John," she said, hoping he would get up. He wasn't there, though. Sometimes, he couldn't sleep and went downstairs to watch old movies. She pulled herself out of bed and walked down the hall to the nursery. John was standing by the crib.

"John, is he hungry?" she asked.

"Shh," John said and put his hand up.

"OK," Mary said. She headed downstairs to fix a bottle anyway. There was no way John was going to get Sammy back to sleep before he got some milk.

She heard the TV. That was odd. How had John heard the baby if he'd been downstairs. She went down a couple of steps and saw John in front of the TV. She ran back up the stairs. "Sammy, Sammy," she yelled almost breathlessly. She burst into the room and the man turned to her with his yellow eyes. "It's you," she said. She remembered the deal. He would come by in ten years for something. That had been ten years ago. He was here for her son. "No," she said.

He flung her against the wall and she felt herself sliding up it. She was then slid across the ceiling and she felt her stomach being sliced. She wanted to yell out, but she couldn't make a sound. She watched as the demon, dripped some blood out of his wrist into Sammy's mouth. Why was he feeding her son demon blood? She knew that when you ingested vampire blood you became a vampire. She had never heard of anyone ingesting demon blood before, though. She didn't know if it turned you into a demon or not. The demon disappeared and John had coming running in, in response to her screams. He didn't look up. He didn't see her. He went straight to the crib. Mary wanted to call to him, but she couldn't.

John noticed her blood dripping into the crib, though. Then he looked up and she burst into flames. She didn't know such pain was possible. She really wanted to scream. Why couldn't she scream? She could feel her flesh boiling. She could hear it sizzle. She could smell herself burning. "Save the kids," she wanted to yell, as John stared stupidly up at her.

As if he heard her, he mobilized. He picked up Sammy and ran out into the hallway. She heard him give instructions to Dean to take him outside. He came back in the room, but there was nothing he could do. Finally he ran out and Mary knew no more.

SSS

The following week

John knew he had seen Mary burning alive on the ceiling. Nobody believed him. They said the trauma was making him remember things that didn't happen. Charlie was talking about calling social services on him.

Finally, he went to see a psychic. Her name was Missouri Mosely. He brought her back to the house. "Can you tell what did this to my wife?" he asked.

"No. But there was something evil here," she said.

Mary was still in the house. She had tried to leave it, but she couldn't. She knew her bones were totally burned up. She didn't know what was keeping her here, but she was apparently destined to be a ghost for eternity. She wanted to reach out to John. She wanted to tell this woman to shut up. Not to tell John about the things that go bump in the night. But, she also wanted to know what was wrong with Sammy. She screamed, but nobody could hear her. She didn't know how to manifest herself.

Mary watched as Missouri told John about ghosts, poltergeists, demons and many other creatures. She referred him to some hunters. He was going to be a hunter. She knew that he would end up raising Sam and Dean as hunters. Her worst fear had come true. She cried. She cried tears that nobody could see with sobs that nobody could hear.

SSS

"Charlie, you were right," John said. "I've been a fool."

Charlie sighed in relief. "It's OK, John. It was the grief. This would be hard on anybody."

"I'm going to take the kids to the park."

"Sam, too? He's kind of young. Why don't you just take Dean?"

"I want us to be together right now," John said. He was actually planning on leaving this town. He had cashed out all his accounts. He didn't have much, but he was going to see those hunters Missouri had referred him to.

He got the kids into the car and drove out of that town as fast as he could.

SSS

Dean hadn't spoken at all the first two weeks after Mary had died. After that, all he had done was ask questions. He had peeked into the room before running out with Sammy. He had seen his mother burning on the ceiling. Finally, John told him the truth about everything.

"I don't know what killed your mother," he ended, "But I'm going to kill everything until I get it."

"Me, too," Dean vowed.


	14. Sex and Violence

December 1989

John drove into town. He had left Sam and Dean a couple of towns over. He wondered how bad of a father he had to be to leave his 10 year old in charge of his 6 year old. Dean was almost 11, but still. He shook it off. He had a job to do. Corpses had been disappearing in this town. That meant ghouls. He went to a funeral and hid behind the trees, seeing if he could spot the offender.

There was no luck there, so he decided to stake out the local crypt. He had been sitting there about an hour when he heard it. A man came in and started busting open one of the drawers.

"Hey!" John yelled.

The ghoul attacked him.

SSS

Deputy Joe Barton had never seen a case like this in his life. Who would want corpses? It didn't make a lick of sense. But he thought maybe a stake-out was in order. He headed to the crypt. He heard noise coming from inside. He drew his gun. When he went in, he saw one man attacking another.

"Police. Freeze!" he yelled.

The attacker made him no mind and went on attacking. Joe shot the man square in the back. He fell off of his victim. But then he stood up. Like nothing had ever happened. And he turned his attention on Joe. As he came at Joe, Joe discharged his gun again. The man kept coming. It was like a bad horror movie. He felt himself being tackled and smelt the most vile breath he had ever smelt. Then he heard a shot and the man's head exploded on to him and Joe was freed from its grasp.

Joe pushed the thing off of him and stood up. "What was that?" he asked.

"You don't want to know," John answered.

"Who are you?" Joe asked.

"Somebody who takes care of things like these," John answered. No name of course.

"Looks like you could use some taking care of yourself," Joe said, indicating John's mangled everything.

"No hospital."

"It's OK. I'm the deputy. I'll tell them it's a hunting accident, what are they going to say about it?"

"You would do that?" John asked.

"You just saved my life in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yeah, I guess I did," John smiled.

"What's your name?" Joe asked.

John figured he could trust this guy. "John Winchester."

"Nice to meet you, John. I'm Joe Barton." He helped John out to his squad car to take him to the emergency room. Little did either of them know that two little ghouls were listening at the edge of the crypt. They looked at each other and swore their revenge.

SSS

Joe had helped John into the emergency room. He was explaining to the doctor about the "hunting accident." A nurse came in to administer the doctor's orders. John did a double take.

"Kathy? Kathy Ward?" he couldn't believe he would run into his old high school girlfriend.

"John Winchester?" she was equally amazed. "I actually go by Kate now. It's more grown-up I think. And my last name is Milligan."

"You're married?" John asked as she wrapped gauze around his arm.

"I was," she said. Then the doctor came in and their conversation ceased.

John's wounds looked a lot worse than they were. All he needed was some stitches and the doctor told him he could go home.

"Do you live around here?" Kate asked. She was surprised she hadn't run into him before.

"No. Just passing through," he said.

"You were passing through, hunting?" she asked.

John remained silent.

"Well, you can come stay overnight at my place. This town isn't really known for its hotels."

"I couldn't put you out," John said.

"I insist."

"OK, then," John said.

Once in the car, John said, "So you were married?"

"Yes. A few months after we broke up, I left town and met Jeff Milligan. I fell head over heels in love. We were married the next year."

"What happened?" John asked.

"Five months of absolute wedded bliss and then he got cancer. It was so fast and so slow at the same time. He died three months after he was diagnosed, but the pain levels during that time were unbelievable. It's why I decided to become a nurse. If I can alleviate even one person's pain. I'm sorry," she said as she began to tear up. "Here we are," she said as pulled into a driveway.

"Nice house," John said.

"Well, Jeff had a little bit of life insurance and his family had money, so I had enough to pay off our mortgage and for nursing school after he died. Now, I'm all on my own, though."

John wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry, Kathy, I mean Kate."

"So, what about you? You married?"

"I was."

"Well, then what's your story?"

"You probably won't believe this, but I married Mary Campbell."

"No way, you two hated each other," Kathy said. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Water would be good," John said. "Yeah. We got married when I got back from Vietnam." No point in telling her that he fell in love with Mary the same day he broke up with her. That would be a little cruel.

"Any kids?"

"Two boys. Sam and Dean."

"Named after her parents," Kate noted.

"Yes. They both remind me so much of her."

"So what happened? I noticed you also used the past tense."

"Mary died in a house fire when our youngest was six months old."

"That's awful," Kate said. She started to tear up all over again. "I'm sorry. It's just she was my best friend for so long. Sometimes I think about her and wonder what happened to her."

"What ever happened with you two anyway? You would never tell me and by the time Mary and I got together it seemed like ancient history, so I never thought to ask."

Kate smiled. "Honestly? We broke up because she got mad at me for going out with you. I thought she was just being a snob or something, but in hindsight, maybe she was jealous."

John couldn't help it. He smiled. "I don't know if that's true, but I'm going to pretend that it is."

Kate laughed. "Go right ahead."

They spent the whole night talking about Mary and Jeff. Old friends from high school that neither of them had seen for years. Sam and Dean. When the sun came up, John kissed Kate. She was surprised, but she kissed him back. They fell back on to her couch and gave in to all their feelings of lust, grief, shared history and just plain convenience.

When they got up, John got dressed and left. No good-bye or anything. He felt like a major jerk. But he did it anyway. He had a job to do, a vow to keep, and kids to raise the best he could.


	15. A Very Supernatural Christmas

December 1991

"I'm leaving on a hunt, boys."

"You'll be back for Christmas, won't you?" Sam fretted.

"Of course, Sammy. You know I always am," John reassured him.

"Yeah, you know dad wouldn't disappoint you on Christmas," Dean chimed in.

John noticed that Dean said you not us. He wasn't sure what that meant, but he couldn't worry about it now. He was leaving on a hunt, but he was leaving his journal behind. It was time for Sam to learn about the supernatural, but he didn't have the heart to do it. He was taking the coward's way out.

SSS

Sam was watching Rudolph on TV and wrapping the gift that Uncle Bobby had given him to give to Dad.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"Wrapping dad's present," Sam said.

"Yeah, right. Where'd you get it?" Dean asked.

"Uncle Bobby gave it to me to give to him," Sam answered. "Where did dad go anyway?"

"To work," Dean answered warily. Sam was starting to ask more and more questions. He didn't want Sam to know about this stuff. Sam was too young. He was a lot older than when Dean found out, but Sam was special. He deserved a better childhood.

"Why do we always move around so much?" Sam asked.

"Because we don't have any other family so we don't have to stay in one place."

"Why doesn't Dad ever talk about Mom?" Sam couldn't remember her at all, but he had seen her picture. Dad would never tell him anything about her, though. Only that she was perfect. It wasn't fair. He wanted to know what his mom was like.

Dean was enraged. "Don't you ever talk about mom!" Dean was mad because Sam never got to know their mother. He only had a few memories of her, but at least he had those. But since Sam couldn't remember her at all he was better off not thinking about her. Not realizing what he was missing. He went to the door.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked scared. He had never seen Dean this mad before. At least not at him. He had seen him get pretty mad at some bigger kids who were giving him trouble, though.

"Out," Dean said and slammed the door shut behind him.

Sam started cleaning up the place a bit. He didn't think Dean was mad because the place was a mess, but it gave him something to do. He found Dad's journal. The one he always said Sam couldn't see. Well, nobody else was here now, so he sat down to read. As he read, his eyes bugged out of his face. He was trying to decide if his father was insane or not.

SSS

John returned home two days after Christmas. He had broken his promise. Worse yet, he had broken it on purpose. He had finished the hunt two days before Christmas, but couldn't bring himself to go home. He knew that Sam would have found the journal. And he knew that Sam would have read the journal. And he knew that the Sam he saw next would not be the Sam he saw last.

"Hey, boys," John said, when he came into the room.

"You lied to me," Sam said.

"Sam," Dean said. He had been worried about Dad. He was glad to see he was alive.

"It couldn't be helped," John lied again.

"I read this," Sam said holding up the journal. He didn't care if he was going to be punished.

"I was hoping you would," John admitted.

"What?" Dean asked. Dad had wanted Sammy to read that. He was too young.

"It's time he knew the truth," John said. "We'll start training tomorrow."

"Training for what?" Sam asked.

"Teaching you how to hunt. To kill those things."

Sam's eyes widened. He honestly hadn't realized that was what his father had in store for him. "But, I'm just a kid," he said, having no idea he was echoing his mother's words from so long ago.

"You're older than Dean when he started," John said. He had let Sam slide for too long. He loved his son, he loved both of them, more than life itself, but this was important.

"But, I'm scared," Sam admitted.

"I'd be worried if you weren't," John assured him. "Being scared is nothing to be afraid of. But when you're scared and do it anyway, that means you're brave." John knew he had said those words before, but couldn't quite remember where.

SSS

December 1996

They were moving…again. Sam was so sick of it. He actually kind of liked the last school they were at, even though there was that stupid bully, Dirk, there. He really liked his English teacher Mr. Wyatt. He had said he didn't have to be a hunter. Well, obviously that wasn't exactly what he said, since he had taken Sam's essay to be a work of fiction. Sam had no idea what he was thinking when he wrote that stupid thing.

"There have been a bunch of strange deaths two towns over. We check it out this weekend," John said. More like commanded.

"Um, Dad? Can I talk to you?" Sam asked. This conversation was going to be way scarier than hunting. But if there was any chance, he had to take it.

"We'll try to be done by Christmas, Sammy," John sighed. He didn't know what the kid's fascination with Christmas was.

"What?" Sam hadn't even realized Christmas was only a week away. "No, that's not it."

"What, then?" John noticed an odd tone to Sam's voice. This sounded important.

Dean glanced over from where he was cleaning the guns. He had a feeling he knew what was coming and thought it was a pretty good thing all the guns were over by him and not Dad.

Sam took a deep breath. "I don't want to be a hunter. I hate hunting. I hate everything about it. I can help people another way."

"How?" John asked.

"Lots of ways. I could be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a police officer, a fireman, a paramedic, join the army. Lots of ways," he repeated. He hadn't really settled on exactly what he wanted to do, just on what he didn't.

John didn't want Sammy to be miserable. If Sammy's heart wasn't in hunting, he would probably be better off doing something else. But, this was a big decision. "Tell you what. You can sit this hunt out and when we get back, we'll sit down and discuss this thoroughly."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked.

"Just what I said. I promise that as of now, I am not set on saying no to this. I just want to think everything through."

This had gone so much better than Sam had hoped. Dean was sitting in amazement on the other side of the room. He had figured his dad would explode.

SSS

Four Days Later

John and Dean were no closer to figuring out what they were hunting than when they rolled into town. Dean had been afraid to ask his dad what he was thinking in regards to Sam's request. On the one hand he wanted Sammy to be happy and safe. On the other hand, hunting was a big part of his life and it would feel weird if Sam wasn't part of it.

"So," Dean summed up, for what felt like the millionth time, "none of the murdered victims' neighbors saw anybody but the victim the days that they were killed?"

"Right," John said.

"But there's no sulphur or EMF, so it's not a demon or a ghost?"

"Right."

"What does that leave?" Dean asked.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier," John said.

"What?" Dean asked. He certainly didn't have any new, brilliant ideas.

"It's a shapeshifter. A creature that can make itself look like anyone. It's taking the form of the person it's going to kill. That's why nobody saw anybody else."

"OK. How can we find something that can look like anybody and how can we gank it?" Dean asked. That was the best part of the hunt.

"They usually hole up in sewers, so we can look there. And, you kill it the same way you kill a werewolf," John said, knowing that for some odd reason, that was Dean's favorite prey.

SSS

Dean followed John's monster truck in the Impala that John had decided to give to him as an early Christmas present. He was leaving Dean behind with Sam for longer and longer periods and it just made sense for them to have a car to use while he was gone.

When John got out of the truck, he took his jacket off and threw it inside.

"What are you doing? It's the middle of December?"

"It'll be hot in the sewers," John predicted.

Dean shrugged, but left his jacket on. It was cold outside.

John lifted up the grate and they descended the ladder.

SSS

The shifter thought he heard a noise. He peeked out and saw two people. A man and a teenager. He memorized the features of the man and crawled back into the niches to change into him. As soon as the transformation was complete, the shifter had all the thoughts and memories of John Winchester. He normally only killed single people living alone, but he would obviously make an exception for people who came hunting after him. Humans all thought they were so much better than everybody else. He couldn't stand them.

He was just going to go out and kill these two. But he knew there was another one a couple of towns over that they treasured more than themselves. He would go back there and wait for them. They would watch him kill the boy and then he would kill them.

He snuck out of the sewers and headed straight for the monster truck. He didn't have the keys, but that was not a problem. John Winchester knew how to hotwire a car, and consequently, so did he.

SSS

"We've been looking around here for an hour, Dad. He's not here," Dean said.

"I guess you're right," John admitted.

"Where's my truck?" John asked.

"Somebody stole it?" Dean asked. "What if it was the shifter? What if he saw us down there?"

"Why would he have stolen my truck instead of killing us?" John asked.

"Let's just go home," Dean said. "If the shifter did see us, he's long gone. If not, we have no idea where to find him. If there's another victim, we'll come back."

John didn't like the idea of letting someone else die, but Dean had a point. They had no idea where to look.

They got in the car and Dean grabbed his cell phone to call Sam and let him know they were on their way. "My battery's dead."

John reached into his pocket and found it empty. "It's in my jacket," he said.

"What if Sammy calls and the shifter intercepts it," Dean panicked.

"Dean, relax. Sam only calls us while we're hunting if there's an emergency. There's nothing in the truck about where we're staying. There's no way the shifter can find him. He'll be fine until we can get back."

Dean pressed down on the gas pedal anyway.

SSS

The shifter smiled. John and Dean were on their way. He wouldn't have to wait long. He knocked on the door. "Sammy, open up. I can't find my key."

Sam opened the door. "Where's Dean?" he asked.

"We ran into trouble. Dean's dead."

"What?" Sam asked in a barely audible whisper.

The shifter had gotten everything he wanted out of the truck. He figured he had about a half an hour before the other two arrived.

"You heard me," the shifter said. "Turn around."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Just do it," the shifter said in his best exasperated John tone.

Sam turned his back to his father and immediately his father grabbed his wrists and slipped handcuffs on them.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I've lost one son. I have to make sure I always keep the other," the shifter said. He was going to enjoy messing with the kids while he waited for his father and his brother. He wondered if he would figure it out before they showed up. He knew that John hadn't run into a shifter before, so hadn't told his sons about them. That would work in his favor.

"You don't have to do this," Sam said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Well, now we're sure you won't, aren't we?" the shifter said. "Sit down," he said and roughly dragged Sam over to a chair and shoved him down.

"What happened to Dean?" Sam asked. He figured his dad would come to his sense later. He wanted to find out about Dean.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, was he in pain?" Sam asked.

The shifter punched Sam across the face. "I said I don't want to talk about it." He pulled out an old greasy rag John kept in the truck to check the oil. He shoved it in Sam's mouth and tied it behind his head. Sam nearly gagged on the oil and grime.

"Things are going to start changing around here, Sam. I'm sick of your rebellious nature. From now on, you're going to do what I tell you when I tell you. Understand?"

Sam nodded. He was beginning to realize that this change in his father may be permanent.

The shifter saw in his mind that John was seeing the turn off to the motel parking lot. "Game time is almost over, Sammy," he said and patted Sam's cheek.

A few seconds later, Sam heard the sound of the Impala. That engine was unmistakable. If Dean was dead who was that?

The shifter grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him to a standing position in front of him. He placed a gun to his head and wrapped his arm around his neck. Tightly. Sam wanted nothing more than to grab the arm and try to pull it off, but in his present predicament, that was impossible.

The door opened to reveal John and Dean aiming their weapons. Sam sighed in relief. He knew he was still in mortal danger, but was just glad to find out that the man he had spent the last half hour with was not his father.

"Put the guns down," the shifter said.

John had no intention of doing that. They were all dead.

The shifter smiled. John was totally creeped out by seeing his face with such an evil grin on it. He pulled back on Sam's neck and caused him to gasp for any breath he could get.

"Sam!" Dean yelled.

"Drop your guns," the shifter repeated.

John lowered his gun ever so slightly. Dean held his ground. The shifter was concentrating more intently on his dad.

Sam looked at Dean. He could see that he was ready to take a shot now, if he had the opportunity. Sam quickly lifted his foot and jammed it back hard in the shifter's knee cap. The pressure against his neck loosened and he thrust all his weight forward falling out of the way.

Dean watched as his little brother made his move. Dean hesitated. His mind wouldn't let him shoot his father. The shifter bent down so that he could get his shield back. Without missing a beat, John raised his gun and sent a silver bullet straight to the shifter's heart. He fell on Sam.

Dean ran forward and threw the shifter aside and pulled Sam away from him.

John checked to make sure the shifter was dead. "Let's get out of here. That gunshot was sure to be heard."

Dean was pulling the gag out of Sam's mouth. "What was that thing?" he asked.

"A shapeshifter," John answered. "Are you OK? We have to go."

"I'm OK," Sam said.

Dean was working on picking the lock on the cuffs. As soon as they were off, John helped him up. "Grab his bag, Dean," John ordered.

Dean grabbed Sam's bag. Their stuff was already packed. They didn't leave stuff behind when they were hunting. John guided Sam to the truck. "Follow closely, Dean," John said. Dean's cell phone was dead and he wasn't sure where his was. It wouldn't be good to get separated now when they didn't know where they were going.

"Are you OK?" John asked for the third time.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm OK." This kind of thing was exactly why he didn't want to hunt, though.

"Well, I guess we both learned something from this little incident," John said.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You can't quit hunting. You'll always be in danger. You need to be trained and proactively go after these things before they come after you."

"But, Dad!" Sam protested.

"Not another word, Sam. You're hunting for the rest of your life and that's that."

Sam knew that tone. There was no arguing with it. He would have to hunt until he graduated. But then, he was getting as far from the life as he could. He didn't care what his dad had to say about it.


	16. You Can't Handle the Truth

June 2001

"If you leave, don't ever come back," John threatened Sam, as Dean watched on horrified. His family was breaking up. It was all he had.

"Fine," Sam said. He grabbed his bag that he had already packed and slammed out the door. When he was down the block he realized that he hadn't said anything to Dean. But it was too late.

SSS

September 2002

John's cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"John. It's Kate Milligan."

John had to think for a second. He hadn't given her a second thought since their one night together almost 12 years ago. "Hi," he said lamely.

"John, I got pregnant that night. Your son wants to meet you," Kate said bluntly.

"Are you serious?" John asked.

"Yes!"

"Sorry. I'll be right there." He left a note for Dean that said, "had to go on a hunt. Go help Bobby with that thing."

He raced to Minnesota. He had another son. A second chance to do it right. No hunting. No supernatural.

SSS

"Adam, this is your father," Kate said.

"I've wanted to meet you forever," Adam said.

"If I'd had known about you, I'd have been here years ago." But it was probably better that he hadn't. He used to be an idiot. He would have broken this kid with hunting, too. He took the kid to a baseball game. They went camping. He spent two weeks with him. He checked in with Dean a couple of times, but basically this was Adam time.

But, he knew he couldn't stay there forever. He had a job to do. He left. But he called Adam twice a month. Like clockwork. And he went to visit him on his birthday every year. It wasn't much, but it was something.

SSS

September 2003 Heaven

Zachariah approached the same cupid angel as before. "The demons are trying to make a match. I thought it would be nice if we helped them."

"You want to help along a match that demons want?" That didn't sound good.

"Yes. Sam Winchester and Jessica Moore. Take care of it."

The Winchesters again. Sometimes the cupid angel really hated his job. He flitted down and saw Jessica Moore. She was beautiful. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. Not that anyone could hear him. He inscribed the words on her heart, and then did the same to Sam. They were bound. For good or evil, and he had the feeling it was evil.

SSS

October 2005

John sent Dean on his own to a hoodoo thing in New Orleans. He was 26. He should start hunting alone. It sounded like it wouldn't be much. He headed out to Jericho to check into a woman in white. When he was done with that he would swing by Stanford and check on Sammy. Maybe this time he would even talk to the kid. But, he knew he wouldn't.

After figuring out where the body was buried he headed back to the hotel. He would wait until nightfall to dig it up. He had just sat down when there was a knock at the door.

He got up and answered it to find an older man on the other side. He looked familiar. "Yes?"

"John. I'm Ed Campbell, Mary's uncle."

So, he was. "How did you know I was here?" John asked.

"Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course," John said.

Ed was on the run. He immediately started laying down salt and cat's eye shells. He was in danger, but he had to talk to John. Of course, this was going to put John in danger.

John watched as Mary's uncle put protection around the room. How did he even know about this stuff? "What's going on?" he asked.

"I'm a hunter, like you, John. Our families have hunted together for generations."

"What are you talking about? My family didn't know anything about this stuff."

"They quit shortly after you were born. Wanted to keep you out of it. Mary was raised a hunter, but wanted no part of it. That night her father died. He was possessed by a yellow eyed demon. He killed you and Mary brought you back."

"She sold her soul?" John asked feeling guilty. How could his life have been worth her soul?

"No. I've spent the last 30 years researching this yellow eyed bastard. He didn't want souls. He wanted children. Mary sold Sam. The demon went around making these deals, appearing in nurseries ten years later, dripped demon blood into their mouths giving them psychic powers and now he intends for them to lead a demon army." He had been blunt, but he didn't have a lot of time, and there was no easy way to say this.

"My son has demon blood in him?" For just a second, John wondered if that was what made him so rebellious and then checked himself. Sammy wasn't evil. "What's this about a demon army?" He was having trouble keeping up. That was a lot of information.

Ed told John everything he knew, which wasn't much more. Then he left in a hurry. John thanked him. He knew what he had to do. He had to kill that yellow-eyed demon. If he failed in that he would have to kill Sammy. He couldn't bear the thought. He knew he had to keep Dean out of this. There was no way he could let Dean anywhere near something that might result in his brother's death. He called Dean and left a cryptic message. Then, he more or less ran away from home.

Outside, the yellow-eyed demon watched. John knew everything. Now it may be too late, but he was going to kill everyone Mary Winchester had ever known. Especially her stupid uncle and her stupid husband.

SSS

Sam and Jessica came back from the Halloween party in high spirits. Everything was going right for them. They got ready for bed and fell into a peaceful, blissful sleep.

Sam was awakened by a sound. He focused and realized someone was trying to break in. He hoped it was someone anyway and not something. He picked up the baseball bat he kept around for odd games that were organized. He crept out into the living room. He saw the intruder, the outline of him anyway and swung the bat. The intruder easily caught it and flung it away. They started fighting and soon Sam found himself on the floor with his attacker above him. That's when he saw the amulet. The one he had given to Dean that Christmas instead of their father. "Dean? You scared the crap out of me."

"That's because you're out of practice."

Sam flipped his leg up and knocked Dean off of him and got the top position for himself.

"Maybe not," Dean conceded. "Get off me."

Sam got up and helped Dean to his feet. The light turned on and Sam looked over to see Jessica.

"Sam?" she asked. He seemed to have been fighting, but now he was talking.

"Dean, this is my girlfriend Jessica."

"Wait. Your brother Dean?" Jessica asked excitedly. She had never met Sam's family, but he talked about his brother all the time. With total idol worship.

"You are way out of my brother's league, but I need to talk to him alone."

"No, whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Jessica." Sam hoped that Dean meant that realized he didn't want to hear about hunting. Not that he should mention it in front of Jess.

"Dad's missing and I need you to help me find him."

"Jess, excuse us. We're going outside for a moment."

SSS

Against his better judgment, Sam had gone off with Dean to find their father. They hadn't found him of course, but had killed a woman in white. Sam also discovered that he did not miss hunting in the slightest. Dean reluctantly drove Sam back home when he found that Sam was not going to sign up for a lifelong Dad hunt.

Sam went upstairs and into his apartment. "Jess? You home?" He found the cookies she had left for him and proceeded into the bedroom. He heard the shower running, so he lay down on the bed and took a bite of the cookie. He felt something wet hit his head. He brushed it away, but he felt another drop. He opened his eyes and saw Jessica on the ceiling with her stomach slashed. His beautiful Jessica. He had seen this in his nightmares so many times lately. "No! No!" he yelled.

SSS

Dean had been driving away, but he realized he couldn't leave it like this. He couldn't let Sam just walk out of their lives because he wanted something different. He had to talk to him before he left and let him know that he was OK with his regular life. He wasn't, but he would lie. He was good at it.

When he got to Sam's door, he heard him screaming No. he tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Sam!" he yelled.

"No, Jessica!" he heard again.

He kicked the door down. "Sam!" he yelled again. He saw flames coming from the bedroom and Sam laying on the bed shielding his face. He ran in and looked up to where the flames seemed to be coming. It was his mother all over again. Except it was Jessica. He froze for a moment, and then he realized that it was up to him to make sure Sam didn't burn up too. He raced to the bed and lifted Sam up and spun him around. Sam was fighting him, trying to get back into the room, but Dean just kept on pushing until Sam was outside.

Later he drove Sam to a hotel and let Sam just lay staring at the ceiling for hours.


	17. Home

February 2006

Mary was excited that a new family was moving into her house. This one had a little boy. It was the first time someone with a little boy had come here. Their first night there, she finally learned to manifest so she could pick up the toddler while his mother slept. She sang him a lullaby and rocked him. He reminded her so much of Dean at that age. She didn't know Sammy at that age. Then she put the baby back down and made herself invisible again to weep.

That manifestation was all it took. Mary had unwittingly called a poltergeist to her house. She knew the moment it had entered. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Other spirits were the only ones who could clearly understand a poltergeist. To the world at large they had no voice. Only death and destruction. "I'm here to kill this family. They're happy and I don't like that."

That night the poltergeist decided to start with the girl. Mary had to try to save her. She came out of the closet, but the anger energy of the poltergeist was making it difficult for her to control her form. She came out on fire and frightened the poor girl nearly to death. But she had also scared away the Poltergeist. At least for now.

SSS

The next day the doorbell rang. Jenny went to answer it and Mary trailed along behind her.

"Hi, I'm Sam Winchester and this is my brother, Dean. We used to live here."

Mary was practically jumping up and down so she could see past Jenny. These were her babies. She couldn't believe how big they had gotten. As Jenny led them back to the kitchen she studied them.

She could see a little bit of her little boy in Dean. But he seemed different. Still warm and loving, but at the same time a little cold.

Sammy seemed sweet and innocent, but with such a sadness.

She noticed that they were talking about scratching and flickering lights. They were here about the Poltergeist. But how did they know? Too soon they were leaving.

SSS

They were back the next day. Unfortunately not soon enough to save the poor plumber's hand. Mary had been unable to do anything because the poltergeist was doing something to her. He was pushing down her energy so all she could do was watch. She knew the Poltergeist was planning on acting soon. It had almost just succeeded in killing little Richie. But Jenny had found him in the refrigerator in time. Just barely.

SSS

Mary watched Missouri and the boys in the bedroom. She remembered Missouri. It made her wonder where John was. She noted that Missouri could feel her, but she wasn't strong enough to place. She watched them leave again, but knew they would be back. She just hoped it would be in time.

SSS

Mary was up in the nursery when Sam came back with a bag of some sort. He was knocking a hole into the wall, when Mary sensed the poltergeist's presence. She wanted to warn Sam but she was powerless. She watched as the poltergeist soundlessly unplugged the lamp and had the cord creep across the floor. Then, like a snake, it struck and coiled itself around Sam's neck and pulled him back. Sam tugged at the cord to no avail. He tried to throw his bag into the wall, but didn't have the strength. Plus he hadn't finished the hole. He gasped for breath as he tried to tug off the cord. Finally, he lost the battle and his hands fell lifelessly to the floor.

"No!" Mary shouted. But again nobody could hear her. Except the poltergeist and it laughed at her.

"Sam!" Dean yelled from the doorway. He took in the situation quickly. He ran to Sam and tried to pull the cord from around his neck. It wouldn't budge. He saw the bag laying next to Sam's hand. He didn't want to leave him, but his best bet was to get that bag where it needed to be. He kicked in the hole and threw the bag in. The poltergeist left in a huff. The cord around Sam's neck loosened ever so slightly and he took in a big gasp. When Dean heard that, he quickly ran over to him and pulled him into a sitting position to unwrap the cord. When he let go of Sam to finish the operation, Sam started to fall back to the floor. Dean caught him, pulled him to him and hugged him. Sam would probably never let him hear the end of this, but that was way too close. Mary watched on and smiled. Her boys were all she could have hoped for.

SSS

After the boys had left, Mary felt the poltergeist return. This time it didn't bother with her, though. It started shaking the house.

The boys came running inside in response to Jenny's cries and Sam ran for the nursery and grabbed Richie and then proceeded to Sairey's room. Once again, Mary manifested, but the poltergeist was still affecting her somewhat and she was a fiery figure again. Sairey was afraid of her and Sam was trying to avoid her. They far outpaced her on the way downstairs. By the time she got there, Sam was pinned to the wall, the kids were outside and Dean was just busting through the door. Dean ran back to Sam and raised up his shotgun, which she assumed was filled with rock salt, towards her.

"Don't," Sam yelled.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because I can see her," Sam said.

Mary was finally able to control the situation and remove the fire from her form. "Dean," she said. She had so much more that she wanted to say, but she didn't have a lot of time.

She walked up to Sam. "Sam. I'm sorry." She still didn't know what the demon had done. Sam seemed fine, but she knew the demon was up to no good.

"What for?" Sam asked.

That was not a question she was prepared to answer. Besides, she had other things to attend to right now. She turned and looked up to the poltergeist only she could see. "Leave my house and let go of my son." With that she concentrated all of the energy and rammed into the poltergeist. That effectively cancelled them both out. She closed her eyes as she and the poltergeist went flying. They ended up in a land of monsters. She didn't know it, but she was in Purgatory.

SSS

Missouri walked back into her house after rechecking Jenny's house. "That boy is so powerful. Why he couldn't sense his father, I don't understand."

"Do you really think Mary's spirit saved the boys?" John asked. That sounded so much like his Mary.

"Yes, I do."

John was distraught. He should have never left. Mary had been trapped in that house this whole time. He could have stayed with her. Should have stayed with her. Now, like the story of his whole life, it was too late.


	18. In My Time of Dying

September 2006

John slowly made his way down to the basement of the hospital. He had a plan to save Dean. He couldn't let his need for vengeance get his son killed. Mary would never forgive him. He mixed the ingredients that Bobby had unwillingly brought to him, said the incantation, lit the match and waited.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I can explain," John said.

"Whatever. Come with me," the man tugged at John's arm and John tugged back.

"You must think I'm an idiot."

The man smiled back and his eyes glowed yellow. "I thought you were a lot of things, John, but suicidally reckless wasn't one of them. You trying to trap me?"

"Oh, I don't want to trap you. I want to make a deal."

The yellow-eyed demon couldn't believe his ears. This was better than he had hoped. "What did you have in mind?"

"I will give you the Colt and the bullet, but you gotta bring Dean back."

"I don't know," the demon hesitated.

"This gun means more to you than Dean does," John argued.

"Don't be so sure of that," the yellow eyed demon snapped. "He killed some people very important to me. You humans think you're the only ones with feelings. But you are right. He's not much of a threat. Neither, of course, is your other son. You know the truth about Sammy, don't you?"

"I've known for a while," John admitted.

"But Sam doesn't. You've been keeping secrets," the demon taunted.

"Can you bring Dean back or not?" John asked. He was irritated. He didn't want to play. He wanted to save his son. He wanted to save both his sons, but didn't know if that was possible.

"No, but I know who can. It won't be a problem."

"Good. I'm going to want to see Dean before I hand over the gun."

"You don't trust me. I'm hurt," the demon said sarcastically.

"So, we have a deal?" John asked.

"No, John. Not yet. You need to sweeten the pot."

"With what?"

"There's something I want more than that gun. I want your soul."

"No," John said.

"Fine," the demon started to walk away.

John had been so sure the demon would just take the gun, but that didn't seem to be the case. "Wait. OK."

"And none of this ten year business. I get your soul now," the demon stipulated.

"I get to see Dean first," John countered.

The demon figured that couldn't hurt. "You get an hour, then."

"Dean will be awake?"

The demon nodded.

"OK, then. But no hell hounds. I don't want my boys to know I sold my soul."

"Fine. I'll make it the heart attack special." The demon pulled John in for a kiss.

"Gross," John complained, but the demon had disappeared.

He started to go upstairs to Dean, but remembered he had something else to do before he died, too. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Adam," he said, when his much forgotten youngest son answered the phone.

"Dad? You're still coming for my birthday next week, right?"

"No, son. I'm sorry, I can't make it. In fact, I probably won't see you again."

"But, you promised," Adam said, sounding a lot like Sammy used to.

"I really am sorry. Good-bye. Take care of your mother. I love you." John hung up. He didn't have any more time to spare for the poor kid, he had to talk to Dean and tell him about Sam.

SSS

He heard Sam and Dean talking. He paused at the doorway and just watched the two sons he loved more than anything in the world. They were both so much like Mary in their own ways. Dean sensed his presence and looked up.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine. I'm alive anyway."

"That's the important thing," John reminded himself. He was getting nervous. He was about to go to Hell.

"Where were you last night?" Sam asked.

"I had some things to do."

"That's specific. You went after the demon didn't you."

John sighed. He had to talk to Dean. More than that, he didn't want to fight with Sam. He never wanted to fight with Sam, but that was what always happened. "Can we not fight right now?"

Something in John's tone made Sam perk up. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Could you get me a cup of caffeine?"

"Sure, Dad."

John watched Sam until he was out of the room, knowing it would be the last time he ever saw him.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

John realized he couldn't make his last words to Dean all about Sam. Dean's whole life had been all about Sam. Dean was a person, too. Dean was his son, too. He had just sold his soul for Dean, but that wouldn't mean very much if Dean thought he was nothing compared to Sam.

"I want you to know I'm proud of you."

"What?" Dean asked. His father had never said that to him. Not once. Except for a couple of days ago when he was possessed. "Is that really you, Dad?"

John smiled. "It's me. You took care of me and Sam when you shouldn't have had to. I made you grow up too fast. And for that, I'm sorry."

"It's OK, " Dean reassured his father.

"No, it's not. Dean, I need you to watch out for Sammy."

"Yeah, Dad. You know I will. You're scaring me."

"Don't be scared, Dean." John leaned into whisper to Dean. Sam had a bad habit of lurking outside of doors and listening. "You need to save Sam. If you can't save him, you'll have to kill him, Dean. I know it will be hard, but you have to." With that he straightened up and Dean looked at him in amazement.

Dean wanted to ask his dad what he was talking about, but by the time he found his voice his father had left. He wasn't in any condition to go after him. He would just have to ask him later.

John walked back to his room where he found the demon waiting for him. "OK, then," he said and put the gun down on the table in front of him. Then he felt incredible pain in his chest as he fell down to the floor.

The next thing he knew, he was chained to a rack with a demon in its full glory standing over him. "My name is Alistair. And I have special plans for you."

John screamed as the demon sliced into him. He screamed and screamed and then screamed some more.


	19. Lazarus Rising

May 2007

"I'm going to make you the same offer again," Alistair said, in an almost bored tone. What was wrong with this guy? It had been nearly a century. Did he enjoy torture?

"OK," John whispered.

"What was that?" Alistair asked, thinking he must have misheard.

"OK," John whispered again in resignation. He didn't want to torture other souls, but he told himself they were being tortured anyway. What difference did it make who did it. He groaned in relief, when he was finally let off the rack. He had spent nearly a century stretched out on that thing.

That made him think. "I wonder what it's like on earth now? Do they have flying cars or have they totally destroyed the planet?"

"There's a time difference, Johnny boy. It's only been less than a year, topside."

"Really?" John asked. He had assumed his boys were dead, but they might still be alive. Not that it really made any difference to him at that point.

He heard someone yell, "The devil's gate is open."

He knew what that meant and he ran in the same direction as everyone else. Alistair tried to stop him, but he couldn't catch him. He stopped trying as they got closer to the gate. He hated it on earth and didn't want to accidentally escape Hell.

John got out of the gate and the first thing he saw was Ellen and Bobby trying to get the thing closed again. He hoped they succeeded soon, but was glad they hadn't been successful earlier. He then saw Dean sitting against a grave. He looked hurt. John rushed over in that direction and saw that the yellow eyed demon was about to shoot him. He grabbed him and the demon was forced out of the body to wrestle with him. Of course, the demon was stronger and threw John off almost instantaneously.

John struggled up in time to see that Dean had recovered the gun and was shooting the demon dead. He walked up to Dean and put his hand on his shoulder. He wanted to tell him good work. But all the decades of screaming had left him hoarse. He looked over and saw Sam. Had they succeeded in saving him by killing the demon? He could only hope so. He looked fine. Well beat up, but otherwise fine. He smiled at him. He saw a light and stepped into it.

The next thing he knew he was in the midst of monsters. But he saw Mary. "Mary?"

"John?" They hugged.

"Where are we?" John asked. He had just come from Hell, so he knew they weren't there and he just couldn't believe this was Heaven.

"Purgatory. This is where you go if you died not human, or if you escape from Hell. Unless you're a demon. Demons just go straight back to Hell."

"How is it here?" John asked.

"Not too bad actually. The monsters aren't really cruel down here. We just kind of all hang out."

SSS

May 2010

Samuel was up in Heaven enjoying one of his favorite memories, so it obviously included Mary. He was smiling at his beautiful daughter, when he suddenly felt a tug. He closed his eyes and when he opened them he was standing in a room with a man. Then he noticed the man had black eyes. So, demon, then.

"How did a demon get into Heaven?" Samuel asked.

"I didn't get into Heaven. I had you pulled down."

"How?" Samuel asked.

"Not important. I have a job for you to do."

"I don't work for demons, Mister," Samuel stated as an obvious fact.

"My name is Crowley. I can bring your daughter back. She's in Purgatory. Nasty place."

Samuel froze. He would do anything for Mary. "What do you need me to do?"

Crowley smiled. "First of all, you're going to need help."

"I don't work with other hunters. Only family."

"You have some distant relatives around. Scrounge them up. And you have two grandsons. I just pulled Sam out of Hell. Dean's given up hunting, but if you present him with little brother he'll jump right back in." Crowley gave a little chuckle at the word little.

Samuel remembered Dean. He had been awake inside the demon while he and Dean had been talking about deals and demon blood. It was a little fuzzy.

"Why was he in Hell?" he asked about his other grandson. He just realized that he had been named after him. He felt a little swell of pride. Mary had still loved him after everything. And Dean had been named after Deanna. Mary had learned the lesson that family is the most important thing after all.

"Long story. I'll let him tell you."

"Where is he?" Samuel asked.

"Try Bobby Singer's in Sioux Falls in South Dakota. Be careful. He likes his shotguns."

With that Crowley disappeared and Samuel went to round up family to help him. He hadn't decided if he was going to do whatever that demon wanted, but no matter what he needed family. He always had.

SSS

Samuel found Singer Salvage. He saw a tall guy outside getting into a car. "Hey," he said. The man looked up.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Sam Winchester," Samuel asked instead of answering.

"That's me. Who are you?"

This guy was his grandson? He seemed a little rude and cold. Then again he wasn't really known for being warm and fuzzy to strangers. "I'm your grandfather."

"My grandparents are all dead," Sam said.

"From what I heard, so were you," Samuel countered.

Sam shrugged. "So, are you Samuel Campbell or the other one?"

"I'm Samuel Campbell. The _other one_ wasn't worth two pennies rubbed together."

Sam figured that was some old saying. He didn't really care. "So, I have no idea how I got out of Hell. Do you know how you got out?"

"Well, I was in Heaven. But, I don't know either," Samuel lied. It kind of made him wonder if Sam was lying to him.

"Well, the first item on my to-do list is figure that out," Sam said.

"Well, follow me. We'll do it together."

Sam didn't trust this guy, but he was old. Sam figured he could take him if it came to it. He shrugged hopped in his new car and followed Samuel to a big warehouse type place in Illinois.

When they got there, Samuel showed him around. There was a panic room. The whole compound was surrounded by barbed wire and guard dogs. Everything was made of pure iron and it was well stocked with silver and salt.

"Nice place," Sam admired.

"Thanks. The first thing we have to do is get more help," Samuel said. "We should start with your brother Dean."

"No," Sam said. When he had woken up in that field, he had felt strange and a little scared, not to mention confused. He remembered in the past that he would always go to Dean at such times. He had stolen a car and driven to Lisa's figuring that was where he would find Dean. He stood outside and watched. He felt nothing for Dean or his new family. There was something wrong with him, but he didn't know what. The one thing he did know was he needed to figure that out before going to Dean. If it was something that couldn't be fixed Dean might kill him. Their father had told him he might have to. Dean had resisted in the past, but Sam wasn't sure why. He couldn't take that chance. All that mattered was staying out of Hell. That place had been, well, it had been hell.

"Why not?" Samuel asked.

He couldn't tell him all of that. "Dean always wanted to be a normal family. He has that now. We shouldn't destroy it."

"Does he even know you're out?" It had never occurred to him that Sam wouldn't have gone to him in the first place. He would go to his brothers, but he was pretty sure they were all dead by now. He was the youngest and he would be in his late 80s.

"No. I went and checked on him. I couldn't disturb what he's built," Sam lied smoothly.

"OK," Samuel agreed. He didn't agree at all, but he needed Sam on his side. If he went and antagonized him at this stage he wouldn't have either brother. He would figure out how to get around this later. "We have some distant relatives we should look up."

"OK," Sam shrugged.

Samuel thought it odd that besides the Dean thing, Sam didn't seem to have much of an opinion on anything. It was like he just didn't care about anything. Samuel consoled himself with the thought that he still cared about Dean anyway.


	20. Exile on Main Street

Samuel had been hunting with Sam and the other Campbells for almost a year. They were all in on the plan. Capture creatures to try to find alphas. Samuel was the only one who knew they were looking for Purgatory. He hadn't been able to say no to Crowley. He kept describing Purgatory and the agony his baby was in. He had to get her out. And in order to get her out, they had to find the place. It was as simple as that.

"Sam, you don't look so hot," Samuel observed.

"I keep seeing things that aren't there," Sam said. Ever since he had come back from Hell, he was different. He knew that. But he was more rational. It's like his brain couldn't get in the way of his thinking like it used to. And the weird thing was, that sentence didn't sound stupid. But he knew that he was the only person in the world that could understand what that meant. At least, the only person he knew.

"Like what?" Samuel asked.

"I keep seeing Ruby."

Sam had told Samuel about Ruby. When Samuel would get too close for comfort to what Sam didn't want him to know, he would let something else "slip." Ruby was one of those things.

"How do you feel?"

"Sometimes my vision is a little fuzzy. I think I have a fever. I'm really thirsty."

"Paranoid?" Samuel asked.

"Not sure," Sam said. He kind of felt like things were out to get him, but it wasn't making him particularly anxious like he figured paranoia would.

Samuel thought Sam meant that things were really out to get him so how could he be paranoid. Either way, Samuel came to the same conclusion. "I think a djinn got to you."

"I think I would have remembered seeing a djinn," Sam said, remembering the last one he had run into.

"I've heard that djinns have changed. They blend in now. They poison their victims slowly. Then they die."

"What?" Sam asked. Dying could very well mean a trip back to the cage. The one thing he really cared about was not letting that happen.

"I have a cure," Samuel said. He went and got a syringe and injected Sam. "Better?"

"Yeah. Man, that's fast-acting."

"You said that you would have noticed a djinn. Have you run into one before?"

"Yeah. A few years ago. It got to Dean. He had a pretty crazy dream."

"Did you kill it?" Samuel asked.

"Actually, Dean did," Sam hated to admit. He knew he was better than Dean, but he also knew it wasn't always that way.

"I wonder if that's why they came after you. They might go after Dean next."

"How would they know how to find him? We're hunters. We put ourselves out there. Dean's Ward Cleaver."

"Finally, a cultural reference I get," Samuel joked.

Sam just looked at him blankly.

"You're probably right," Samuel said.

SSS

Samuel found the bar where the djinn were hanging out. "Heard you had a grudge against the Winchesters," he said.

"What's it to you?" One of them asked.

"Me, too. I heard you got to the younger one. Just a matter of time. I know where you can find the older one."

"Why would you tell us?"

"I have a grudge, too. I'll tell you where he is," Samuel said.

"Why shouldn't we just kill you?" One of them asked.

Samuel had given that some thought. "Djinns have a sense of honor. I do you a favor, you won't hurt me."

They knew he was right. That was one of their rules. "Tell us where Dean Winchester is."

Samuel gave him his address. He was going to get Dean back into the game. He only hoped he wasn't going to get him killed.

SSS

"Sam, I've heard the djinns got a line on Dean. We should go check on him."

"OK," Sam said. He was a hunter. This is what he did. Plus, Samuel would think it a little odd if he didn't want to save his own brother.

SSS

Sam heard Dean yelling at someone in the garage. When he looked in there was nobody in there but Dean. He acted like he was getting attacked. He had definitely been djinn juiced. Sam rushed in and plunged the syringe into Dean. Dean lost consciousness.

Samuel had been checking the house. When he hadn't found anything inside, he had come out to the garage. "We should bring him back with us. We don't know if those djinns are still around."

Sam wasn't sure how he was supposed to act. How he could get out of this. It was so hard to act normal all the time. It would be even harder with Dean around. He knew him too well. It couldn't be helped for now.

SSS

The others were waiting when they got back to the compound. Christian grumbled as he helped Sam carry Dean in. "Man, he's heavy."

"He never met a burger he didn't like," Sam said. It sounded like something he should say.

The rest of them went out to the outer room. Sam stayed in with Dean. It was boring watching him sleep, but he figured it's what the old Sam would do. He wondered what Dean's reaction would be upon seeing him alive.

He didn't have to wonder long. Dean's eyes popped open. Sam watched him hurriedly sit up as he took in the situation.

"Hey, Dean," Sam said. He knew he had used that phrase a million times in his life. That shouldn't send up any red flags.

"Am I dead?" Dean asked. Sam was dead, so if he was with Sam that was the only explanation. But Sam was in Hell. This wasn't Hell. "Am I in Heaven?." Maybe this was a memory or something.

"You're not dead," Sam said. "Neither am I."

"How are you back?" Dean asked as he watched Sam cut himself with a silver knife and drink salt water.

"No idea."

Dean didn't care how he was back. He was just glad that he was back. He walked up to him and hugged him. Sam hugged him back half-heartedly.

"How long have you been back?"

"Almost a year."

"Almost a year?" Dean asked. "You've been back almost this whole time?"

"Yeah."

That was helpful. "What have you been doing?"

"Hunting."

"By yourself?" This wasn't good. Hunting was not a good solo activity. You needed back up. If Sam was going to insist on hunting, he would have to help him.

"No. I've hooked up with some other hunters."

"Strangers?" That was worse.

"No. They're like family. They're in the other room."

He walked over and opened the door. Dean followed him out. "This is Gwen Campbell, Mark Campbell, and Christian Campbell."

"Nice to meet you," Dean said. "Wait, Campbell? Like Mom?"

"Yep. These guys are all distant cousins."

"How come we never heard about them?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Because they never heard of you," Samuel said as he walked into the room.

Dean's jaw dropped. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again." It was all he could think to say.

"Me either," Samuel said. He pulled Dean into a hug. Dean didn't return it.

"How are _you_ back? Does anybody else have a problem with this?"

"Of course we do," Samuel said. "But we don't know what happened. There doesn't seem to be any way to figure it out."

After explaining about the djinns, Dean realized that Lisa and Ben might be in danger. Sam and Dean took off.

"Didn't seem like much of a hunter," Christian commented.

"He's a Campbell," Samuel defended his grandson.

"He's a Winchester," Gwen countered. They had all heard Samuel's story of Matt Winchester and his defection from hunting. Looked like Dean was following after the other grandfather's footsteps.

Samuel stormed out of the room. Dean was his grandson. Not Matt's. Sam and Dean were Mary's children. Not John's.


	21. Live Free or Twihard

Samuel delivered the djinn that they had captured at Dean's house to Crowley. "Good work, old man."

"How much longer until we find Purgatory?" Samuel said.

"I don't know. Quit you're whining. You're like a kid asking 'Are we there yet?' every five minutes. Have you got Dean on board? He really is a resourceful one."

"I think so. He knows his family's in danger with him there. I had a talk with him and I think I got through to him."

"Good."

SSS

"What do you mean Dean didn't come back with you?" Samuel asked Sam.

"He's staying behind to protect Lisa and Ben." Sam was glad. He had actually asked Dean to come along because he knew that if he hadn't Dean would have gotten suspicious and come. He was remembering how to play Dean. Actually that wasn't quite accurate. He was remembering things that were allowing him to play Dean.

"Didn't you try to get him to come with you?" Samuel asked.

Sam wondered why this was so important to him. "Of course I did," he half lied. He did ask him, but he didn't mean it.

"It's OK. Don't worry about it."

That was an unnecessary statement. Sam didn't worry about much.

SSS

A month later

"Dean decided after that shifter thing, he wants to start hunting again," Sam said to Samuel.

Samuel was relieved. Now he would have the whole family working together. They would solve this Purgatory business in no time. "That's great."

"Yeah. So, I'll be taking off and hunting with him now," Sam announced.

"Wait, he's not coming here?" This was not the plan at all. Now, he was not only not getting Dean, he was also losing Sam.

Sam chuckled. "No way. I don't think he really likes the cousins. Dean's kind of sensitive."

Sam left. Samuel thought it might be OK. The rest of them were working well together anyway. Sometimes Sam scared the pants off of him. He only kept him around out of loyalty to Mary. Well, that and he was the best hunter Samuel had ever seen. Good hunter, but scary to more than just monsters.

SSS

A few months later

Samuel's cell phone rang. He checked the display and briefly wondered how he had gotten by without these before. He was surprised to see Sam's name on the screen.

"Hey, Sam. What's up?"

"Dean got turned into a vampire."

"What?"

"Can you come help us out?" Sam asked.

"On my way," Samuel said and headed out to his car while Sam told him where they were.

He figured Sam was calling him because he knew that Samuel had a cure. He had talked to him about it a few months ago. This cure wasn't easy, though. He hoped he got there in time and they could get that tricky last ingredient.

When he arrived, Sam was alone.

"Where's Dean?" Samuel asked in an urgent tone.

"He climbed out the bathroom window," Sam answered.

"You can't even keep track of your own brother now?" Samuel yelled. This was not good. If Dean fed there was no going back. Sam knew this. He should have made sure he didn't leave.

"I'm here. I went to say bye to Lisa and Ben. Big mistake."

Samuel spun around. Dean had come in without making a sound. He was kind of creepy in his vampire state. "Did you feed?"

"No, I didn't kill anyone, so you can kill me now," Dean said. He hoped they would get it over with. He was starving, and the overhead light was killing him.

"Or we could turn you back," Samuel said.

"What?" Sam and Dean asked together.

Samuel shot a look at Sam. Why was he surprised? He knew about the cure. He'd worry about that later. He sat them both down and showed them the list of the ingredients.

"OK. I guess I'll go find the nest and get me some of that vampire's blood," Dean said.

"I'll go with you," Sam said.

"No, Sam. You smell like a hamburger. I have to go alone." With that he disappeared as quickly and quietly as when he had first come in the room.

"What's wrong with you?" Samuel asked Sam.

"What do you mean?"

"You knew about the cure. We discussed this a few months ago."

"Not me. Maybe it was Christian or something."

Samuel knew he was lying. He specifically remembered. If he was lying he had to have a reason. "Did you let your brother get turned on purpose to infiltrate the nest? Are you nuts? This cure is far from fool-proof."

"You think I would risk my own brother like that? What's wrong with you?"

But Sam had said it so coolly and without passion, that Samuel knew that that was exactly what happened. "Come on, we have to get the other ingredients."

SSS

Sam and Samuel walked into the nest and found decapitated vampire upon decapitated vampire. Samuel was impressed. "Looks like your brother has some Campbell in him after all."

They found Dean and brought him back to the hotel room. Samuel watched as he drank the cure and fell down to the floor. He felt relief when he popped back up, apparently no worse for wear. Dean was a stranger to him, but he was still family.

He tried to talk them into coming back with him, but they both insisted on going their own way. He could tell that Dean finally was admitting to himself that something wasn't right with Sam. He hoped they figured it out, but he couldn't be worried about that right now. He had his own mission.


	22. Point of No Return

A few months later

Samuel was in his office, while outside everyone was preparing for the big hunt. They were finally going to get that alpha vamp. There was a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said, figuring it was Christian. Since Sam's departure, Christian had become his new right hand man. Christian was a lot less scary than Sam. Christian had a lot of Campbell in him. A real go-getter.

Samuel looked up, surprised to see Sam and Dean. "Hi, boys."

"Are you sure you don't know who pulled you down?" Dean asked, without any preamble.

Samuel wondered what had happened and how much they knew? "No, I don't." He wouldn't admit to anything until he knew that they knew everything. "I've told you everything I know."

"Mind recapping it for our wing man?" Dean asked.

Samuel turned around to see a man in a trench coat. He just appeared and Dean had called him their wing man so that meant he must be Castiel. Sam had told him about him when they had first hooked up. Sam thought that he might be able to help them, but the bastard had never answered Sam. After getting to know Sam, he hadn't been too surprised. Sam didn't seem like someone an angel would want to pal around with. "You must be Castiel. I figured you would be bigger."

"My real form is the same size as your Sears Tower."

"Stop bragging," Dean said. "Check him."

"What?" Samuel asked. He suddenly felt Castiel thrust his hand inside him and he felt the most agonizing pain ever. It was worse than the stab wound he had died from. He screamed out. Castiel pulled his hand out about the same time Christian came running in. "Is everything alright in here?"

"It's fine, Christian," Samuel assured him. "You can go back out."

He watched Christian reluctantly leave. "What was that all about?"

Nobody answered him, but Castiel informed Sam and Dean, "His soul is in tact. I'm afraid I must leave now. Something's happening." With that he disappeared.

"My soul is in tact? Does that mean Sam's isn't?"

"Did you know?" Dean asked,

"No," Samuel answered truthfully. "But I knew something was up. You're cold, Sam."

"What's going on here, anyway?" Dean asked.

Samuel was confused by the quick subject change, but answered anyway. "Big hunt."

"You found it, didn't you?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yep."

"Found what?" Dean asked.

"The alpha vamp. We've been looking for months," Sam answered.

"I want in," Dean said.

"No way. Sam I know. You're a stranger."

"Hey. I'll just do what you tell me. You're in charge," Dean said.

Samuel wasn't sure he believed him, but he agreed. He had done a great job at that other vamp nest.

SSS

"OK, Christian, you go around back. Gwen and Dean stay back her for runners and everyone else is with me and Sam," Samuel said. He didn't trust Dean so he wanted to keep him out of the action.

"I'm stuck back here with the reject," Gwen whined.

Samuel shot her a look and she shut up. She really did remind him of Mary in a lot of ways. He had to do a better job of keeping her safe. It was his fault that stupid demon had been able to make a deal with his daughter. He shook his head. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand.

SSS

They had loaded the alpha vamp in the van, told Dean it was dead and now he was going to get some answers.

"Where is Purgatory?" he asked.

The stupid vampire refused to answer him. That was OK. Crowley was coming for him later. He heard that Crowley had quite the set up and had his own ways of getting monsters to talk. He left and went back to call Crowley to pick up his latest prize.

He came back a few minutes later with Christian to find Sam and Dean. He pulled his gun. Christian did the same. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Purgatory? Really?" Dean asked.

Crap. They knew. Gwen joined them, but before anything else could happen they heard a scream coming from the cage room. They ran in to find one of their brethren fallen and the alpha gone.

"We have to find him," Samuel said.

"And whoever does, hack his head off," Dean said.

"No," Samuel countered.

"We kill that vampire, or it kills us," Dean reasoned.

They split up. Dean and Gwen went one way. Samuel, Sam, and Christian went another. Samuel spotted the vampire first. He ran at it, but he was thrown into the wall. Christian was killed immediately by the stupid thing. "NO!" he yelled. Christian had been like the son he never had. Then Samuel watched as the vampire pushed Sam into the wall. He was whispering something in his ear, but Samuel couldn't hear what. He was shocked to see Christian get up and grab the vampire. Then Christian and the vampire disappeared as Dean and Gwen showed up. He heard clapping from the landing above and saw Crowley.

"Very good, blokes," Crowley said.

"Bring him back," Samuel said.

"Who?" Crowley asked.

"My nephew. Christian. The one you just shoved a demon into."

Crowley laughed. "Christian's been a demon the whole time you've known him."

Samuel's heart sank. He couldn't believe he'd been treating a demon like family. He thought he almost knew how Sam felt about his dalliance with Ruby.

"You know him?" Dean asked.

"Not in the biblical sense," Crowley said. "I'm the one that brought them back, though. Your grandfather and brother."

"You forgot part of Sam," Dean complained.

"Be a good boy and I'll give that back, too." Crowley disappeared.

Samuel saw the disappointment in Dean's eyes. "I have my reasons," he defended himself. He started to leave, but Dean blocked his path.

"Let me leave, or kill me."

Sam looked like was going to take him up on the second option, but Dean pushed down his gun arm. "He sold us out," Sam said.

"He's family," Dean said.

Samuel smiled at Dean and walked out of the room. Dean did have a little Campbell in him after all, he thought once more.


	23. No Exit

A couple of months later

Samuel walked in his office to find Sam, Dean and their little angel buddy. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"We're looking for Crowley," Dean said. "Where is he?"

"I'm not going to tell you that," Samuel said.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Then at least tell us why you're working with him."

Samuel pulled out a picture and handed it to Dean.

"Mom?"

"Crowley said he'll bring her back."

"Man, this is so not a good idea."

Samuel got mad. "Who are you to say that? You're a hypocrite. Your dad brought you back. You brought Sam back. An angel brought you back. A demon brought Sam back. Why can't I bring Mary back."

"Learn from our mistakes," Dean begged.

"Get out!" Samuel roared.

He watched them leave. When he was sure they were gone, he called Crowley. "Sam and Dean are looking for you."

"Do you know why?" Crowley asked.

"They didn't say."

"Did you tell them where to find me?"

"No. I figured you wouldn't want me to."

"Normally, you would be right. But I think they've outlived their usefulness. I'll set a trap for them. Tell them where I am. If you don't, you can forget about your daughter."

Samuel hung up and stared at the phone. He wasn't sure if he should do it or not. Then he decided he had come this far, he would go the rest of the way.

SSS

Samuel opened the door and took in the scene. "You're watching porn with an angel?" This whole set up was weirder than he thought.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"I came to tell you where Crowley is," he said, handing over a slip of paper.

"What made you change your mind?" Dean asked.

"You're my grandchildren."

"Are you coming with us?" Dean asked.

"I'm not that suicidal," he said and left. He went to the compound ahead of them. He wanted to see if he could talk Crowley out of killing them.

SSS

"I have to kill them. They're a major pain," Crowley said.

Samuel hadn't beaten them by as much as he thought. They rounded the corner. Crowley had instructed Samuel to draw one of those angel repelling sidgils. He touched it and Castiel vanished.

"Why?" Dean asked.

Samuel didn't answer him, but watched as his two grandsons were dragged down to the cells by demons. He followed them. He opened the window on Dean's cell.

"If you're looking for forgiveness, you're in the wrong place."

Samuel didn't want Dean to hate him. He wanted him to understand. "Mary's my daughter."

"How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out that you sold out her sons?"

Dean probably had a point, but Samuel was not going to concede that. "You're a stranger, and I don't even know what Sam is. You want me to protect him?"

"Just go away. And this is it. You're not family any more. The next time I see you, I will kill you."

Dean's voice had a steely quality that was just as scary as anything coming from Sam. "There won't be a next time," Samuel said, more to comfort himself than anything else.

"Whatever you have to think to get you through the night," Dean said.

Samuel closed the window and left. He may have fed his grandsons to demons, but he wasn't going to stick around and watch them be devoured.

SSS

A few months later

Since Crowley had died, Samuel had disbanded the family and just hunted with Gwen. He was obviously never getting Mary back now. He knew that Sam and Dean had gotten away that night, but they had rightfully disowned him. Gwen was all he had and he treated her just like his daughter.

They were checking out a meat packing plant where some employees had had some bizarre experiences to say the least. Samuel was trying to get Gwen to wait for him, but she was recklessly going through doors, trying to prove her independence.

He looked out and saw that she had run into Sam and Dean and a couple of older guys. Dean barreled through the door with his gun raised. "Welcome to next time."

Samuel knew that his grandson was about to kill him, but all he could think was, that would make a great tag line for a movie.

Sam came in right behind him, though and stopped him. Odd move for someone who had wanted to kill him a few months ago.

One of the older men told Sam to take Dean for a walk. They were all silent as Sam pushed Dean out the door. He returned alone a few seconds later.

"Sam, you're looking well," Samuel said, for lack of anything better.

"Cut the small talk. What's going on?"

Even though that was terse, there was something different in the tone. "You seem different."

"I got my soul back. No thanks to you I hear."

Samuel was glad to hear that. He didn't know what Sam was like with a soul, so wasn't sure if it would be much of an improvement or not. "You hear? You don't remember?" That was probably a good thing. Samuel wasn't at his best since he came back.

"I remember enough," Sam said, disabusing him of any notion of a clean slate.

Samuel's mind was going in a hundred different directions and he lost track of the conversation until he heard Sam say, "he sold us out to demons. I don't remember, but Dean told me."

"Dean lied," Samuel said when Gwen looked to him for confirmation. He couldn't lose the last family member he had left.

"Maybe you should ask Dean?" the grizzled older guy said.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Bobby Singer."

"Oh, the man pretending to be their father." He wasn't sure why he said that with such disdain. After all, he was doing the same thing with Gwen.

"Well, I am going to ask him," Gwen said and stepped out of the room.

"So, who are you?" the other guy asked.

"He's our grandfather," Sam said.

"That would explain the love fest," Rufus said sarcastically.

They heard a shot and all ran out. Samuel stared in horror at Gwen's body on the floor. Blood was gushing out. She had been shot in the chest. Bobby and Rufus were trying to save her. Sam had run off. Probably to look for Dean. Finally they stopped working.

"I'm sorry," Bobby said. Then he ruined it by adding, "If you care."

"I care. Screw you." And he did care.

Sam came back without Dean and they all fanned out to find him. Samuel and Rufus came upon him first. Samuel pointed his gun at Dean. He would have pulled the trigger, but Sam and Bobby arrived on the scene. "Put it down, Samuel."

"What happened?" Dean asked.

"You killed Gwen," Samuel yelled.

Dean gave them some story about something crawling in his ear and taking over. He didn't believe it until it happened to him. He was actually a little proud of Sam when he killed him. He had done it-but only after being given no choice. He was different now. He was better. And Samuel was only sad that he wouldn't be around to see it.

The End for now. I'm going to wait to see how the whole Purgatory/souls thing plays out on the show to finish this.


	24. Two Minutes to Midnight

A/N I'm breaking my own rule and posting as I write each chapter from now on. I was trying to stick to canon and hoping that the season finale would reveal more about Purgatory. As you know, it didn't. So, now I have my own version of what's going to happen and the odds of me being right are slim to none-a lot closer to none. So, away from canon we go.

Samuel woke up realizing he was in Purgatory. He was actually just assuming that. He had already been in Heaven and he had heard Sam's stories about Hell. This was neither one, so it must be Purgatory. Plus, there were a ton of monsters. The odd thing was they weren't out for anything.

Time moved much slower, or faster depending on how you looked at it, in Hell. 10 years in Hell was one month on earth. It was pretty much the opposite in Purgatory. 10 years on earth was one month in Purgatory.

SSS

A few months later earth time

Castiel had come too far to back out now. He knew Dean felt that he had betrayed them but it wasn't true. He was trying to save them. As proof of that he had double-crossed Crowley. If he had been betraying them, would he have done that?

Deep down he knew the answer was yes. The real reason he was betraying Crowley was that he wanted all the souls to himself. It had nothing to do with keeping the Winchesters, or anyone else, safe some from a demon gone mad with power. Truth be told, he was the one who was mad with power.

He had tricked Raphael and Crowley and threw them a jar of dog's blood and took off. He was performing the ritual now. He almost felt giddy with anticipation. He could honestly say he had never felt giddy before. Except for that one year when he had been cut off from Heaven's power, he had never really felt anything. But some of those feelings lingered. He really wished Dean would understand what he was doing, because as much as he hated to admit it, the human's friendship meant a lot to him.

He shook off his feelings. This was the most important moment in his life. He needed to concentrate. He said the incantation as the eclipse was beginning. He felt the ground beneath him shake. The large rock formation in front of him opened up and Castiel opened his mouth. He sucked and all the souls in Purgatory came to him going into his mouth. He inhaled all of them except for three that he batted away. Even though, souls were just balls of light he could tell who was who. He then used his power to bring forth the three minds that went with them and shut off Purgatory again. The last thing he needed was a bunch of soulless monsters running around up here.

He started to have seconds thoughts about that. It would certainly keep the Winchesters busy and out of his hair. But, he decided his original thought was correct. Billions of soulless monsters were not a good idea.

He touched each of the ghosts and gave them back the bodies they had in life. Now, he looked in front of him and saw John and Mary Winchester and Samuel Campbell.

"Dad?" Mary asked when she saw her father. She hadn't been in Purgatory long when John showed up and that had been not quite a couple of weeks ago.

"Mary?" Samuel asked. She didn't look much like the 19 year old girl he remembered. He was kind of sad. His little girl had grown up without him.

"What's going on?" John asked. Even though he now knew that Samuel had been possessed when he had tried to kill him all those years ago, he did remember that he had always treated him with contempt and was not feeling friendly toward him.

"Come and see," Castiel said. He touched each of them on their foreheads and sent them outside of the building where he knew Raphael and Crowley would be performing their ritual. He knew Dean had been on his way there and assumed he had made it. Dean was good. He would surprise him with his family and all would be forgiven. Then, he would go heal Sam. How could Dean stay mad at him after all that?

After he had sent them on their way, he himself popped over to see what was going on. When he got there, Crowley and Raphael had clearly just been disappointed in their attempt to pop Purgatory. "Maybe I said it wrong," Crowley had said.

"You said it perfectly," Castiel said. He had no idea whether he had or not, having just arrived, but Crowley would get the point. He was weaselly, but smart.

Raphael and Crowley both turned at his voice. "Give us the blood," Raphael demanded, thinking he was still in charge.

"It's over. His jar is empty," Crowley pointed out.

Castiel smiled. He glowed with all the power he had taken in. It was then that he noticed Dean and Bobby on the floor near the stairs. Crowley and Raphael would pay for hurting his friends.

"Exit stage Crowley," Crowley said.

Castiel let him go. He would deal with him later. Crowley was no threat to him. A mere demon could hold no power over him and he wanted to make sure that Crowley suffered. Raphael needed to be taken care of immediately, however. He snapped his fingers and the archangel exploded. He had remembered how Raphael had exploded him about two years ago. Aw, justice.

SSS

Samuel, John and Mary looked briefly around and saw a building. "Someone just went in the door. I think it was Sam," John said. He wasn't sure. The last time he had seen Sam was his quick exit out of Hell and Sam hadn't seemed quite so large then. But he knew that time was different in Hell. If it was different in Purgatory, Sam may have had time to bulk up.

Samuel had seen the figure slip through the door as well. "That was definitely Sam," he corroborated.

"Should we follow him?" Mary asked.

John knew that Mary had been a hunter, but was still having a hard time thinking of her that way.

"Yeah," Samuel said without hesitation. He didn't know why they were there, but figured the action would be going on inside.

"Wait. How do you know Sam?" John asked. Samuel had died years before Sam was even born.


	25. All Hell Breaks Loose

"I was brought back about a year and a half ago, before I died again, anyway," Samuel said.

"By what?" John asked. He was suspicious of stuff like that just happening.

"A demon," Samuel admitted. "I was working for him so that he would bring Mary back."

"So, that was a demon who brought us back just now? Pretty much what I suspected," John admitted.

"No. That was an angel."

"An angel?" John and Mary asked together.

Mary used to tell Dean that angels were watching over him, but she had never really believed it. With all that she had seen growing up, she didn't believe in anything good. Especially after the way she had died and her time in Purgatory. Or course, she had brought that on herself by making a demon deal.

"Yeah. But he was working with Crowley, too."

That brought up another question. "What exactly were you doing for this demon, Dad?" Mary asked. She had learned the hard way not to trust demons. OK, she knew not to trust him when she made the deal but she was desperate.

"He wanted to find Purgatory and thought alpha monsters would know where to find them, so I hunted them and turned them over," Samuel said. That was all he would say on the subject. After all, that didn't sound so bad. After all, they were just monsters.

"You're hiding something," Mary said. She knew her father very well. She could tell when he was evading or telling half truths. How many times had she seen him do it while hunting when she was a kid?

Samuel averted his eyes. He should have known he couldn't hide anything, much less something of this magnitude, from his only daughter. "Crowley thought Sam and Dean had outlived their usefulness. He wanted me to set a trap for them."

"Did you do it?" John asked, angered beyond belief. Nobody would have accused him of being a good father and he had told Dean that he may have to kill Sammy, but he would have never dreamed of turning them over to demons. Not only that, he wouldn't have turned anybody else over to demons for them, either. There were lines you didn't cross.

"Yes," Samuel admitted, but hastened to add, "I was glad when they got away."

"Well, that's really good to know," John said sarcastically. "Come on, Mary. We need to find out what's happening inside."

They started toward the building and Samuel started to follow.

"No, Dad. I don't trust you," Mary said, before John could object to his presence.

Samuel had never felt more lonely as he watched his daughter, and the man he would always consider not good enough for her, walk through those doors and away from him.

SSS

Adam looked up from the table he was strapped to as Michael and Lucifer argued. They didn't have body forms and they were pure bright light. It hurt just to look at them. Their voices were like screeching but he could understand them. They were fighting about Sam…again. He missed Sam, but mostly because there was nowhere else for the focus to be.

"It's his fault we're here and we could still be torturing him if you were more vigilant," Lucifer hissed at Michael.

"Sam was your responsibility. Adam was mine. Adam is still all here," Michael pointed out.

Adam wanted to roll his eyes. They had been having the exact same fight for decades. Of course, when they were fighting they weren't torturing him, so he supposed he ought to be grateful. On the other hand, the fire was so hot, nobody had to be torturing him for him to be in severe pain. When they had first popped into the cage he had asked how hot it was. Lucifer had actually answered him and told him it was 1,000 degrees. It felt hotter.

"Hello boys."

"Crowley, right?" Lucifer asked. This was the demon who had helped the Winchesters defeat him.

"I have a proposition to make," Crowley said.

"You know it's funny. I was in here for 2,000 years which is really over 2000,00 years, without any company or being interrupted. The only conversation I had was when Azazel contacted me to find out how to let me out. Then I get locked back in here with these two knuckleheads and Sam Winchesters. That stupid angel, Castiel, comes to get Sam's mind and body. Then Death comes to Sam's soul. Now you're here. It's like Grand Central Station. What do you want?" Lucifer asked in an annoyed tone. He missed the solitary he had once had. Humans, angels, demons, he was so much better than any of them.

"Castiel has become all-powerful. He has consumed all the souls from Purgatory," Crowley explained.

"All of them?" Michael and Lucifer asked in unison. They knew what that meant. Castiel would be the most powerful angel ever, but not quite all-powerful.

"So, what do you want from us?" Michael asked. He hated demons and didn't want to be dealing with one. The earth's problems were now the earth's problems and he couldn't care less since he was stuck in this stupid cage with his stupid brother for eternity.

"Raphael and Gabriel are dead. You two, together, could probably stop him," Crowley said.

"Except that we're down here," Lucifer pointed out. He wished this moron would just get to the point.

"Do you think I just strolled in here without having a way out? I can let you out, if you promise to take care of Castiel."

"Sure," Lucifer and Michael promised. They didn't care about their wayward brother and would be more than happy to smite him.

"Come on, then," Crowley said.

"Hold on," Michael replied, turning towards Adam. If you want out, consent to be my vessel again. Otherwise, we'll leave you in here.

Adam wasn't really looking forward to having Michael inside of him again. If they left there would be no one to torture him, but on the other hand he would be completely alone for eternity and he still hadn't adjusted to the heat. "Yes," he decided.

Michael took possession of him.

"Not fair," Lucifer whined. "I don't have a vessel."

"Guess you should have kept a closer eye on it," Michael taunted as they followed Crowley out of the cage and back to earth.


	26. Good God Y'All

"Where did he go?" Mary whispered. The conversation with her father had taken too long and Sam was no longer visible when they got in the building.

"This way," John said, choosing a direction. In his experience, when looking for his sons, it was always better to just pick a direction then to actually try to calculate which way they went.

SSS

"You see. I saved you," Castiel said to Dean.

Dean was beyond terrified. Cas was out of control, but he was also his friend. The only people he was closer to were Sam and Bobby. "Yeah, Cas you saved us," Dean agreed trying to think how to fix this.

Bobby gave him a look of incredulity. He couldn't believe that Dean was agreeing with what Cas had done.

"You saved us. It's over now. You should put those souls back where they belong before the end of the eclipse," Dean said. He didn't even know if such a thing was possible, but figured it was worth a try. Balthazar had said taking in that many souls was like taking in a nuclear reactor.

"I can't. Raphael had many followers. I must punish them."

Castiel had paused before the word punished and seemed to be really relishing the thought.

"Cas, please," Dean begged. "I lost my parents years ago. I've lost Lisa and Ben. Now, I've lost Sammy. Don't make me lose you, too."

"You're not my family, Dean. You never were," Castiel said, remembering their conversation from the other day. He couldn't believe that he had ever condescended to beg a human's forgiveness. Couldn't believe he had treated a human with anything but slightly amused contempt. As he was thinking this, he felt a slight prick in his back.

Dean looked in astonishment to see Sam picking up Raphael's dropped sword and plunging it into Castiel's back. He didn't know if he was more surprised by the fact that Sam had shown up or that the angel sword had no visible effect on Cas.

Sam was breathing hard with the effort. He had had to pull over several times on the way from Bobby's. He was tired, emotionally and physically. The sword had resisted going in, but he had pushed through. Now, Castiel was still standing and turning towards him. Sam almost wished he would just kill him quickly. Hopefully destroying his soul in the process so he would not have to go back to Hell. Heaven hadn't been all that great from what he remembered either.

"I'm glad you made it, Sam," Castiel said.

That was a surprise. Sam would have figured he would have been pretty mad that he had tried to kill him.

"The angel sword didn't work on me because I'm not an angel any longer."

Everyone just stared at him. Dean kind of wanted to ask him what he was, but he was afraid of the answer. Bobby could barely think straight. He'd been hunting longer than these boys had been alive, but had never seen so many twists and turns as he had in the last year. He was dumbfounded. Sam was just almost beyond caring.

Castiel was disappointed that nobody asked, but he decided he would inform them anyway. "I'm your new god. A better god. Bow down and worship me or I will destroy you." Castiel figured he would give them a couple of minutes to mull over the prospect.

John and Mary snuck in the door by the stairs that Dean and Bobby had entered from. They caught the end of Castiel's speech. They exchanged a glance, wondering what was going on and what was going to happen. They didn't know how to help the situation any, so they just watched.

"Looks like little brother's getting a bit big for his britches."

"Michael," Castiel said. "How was the cage?" He asked maliciously.

John did a double take. That was Adam. He was older now, but he wasn't so bad of a father not to recognize his own son.

Suddenly a light started flying around the room, screeching. Dean, Bobby, and John ducked their heads and covered their ears. Sam knew that was Lucifer. He saw Michael right in front of him. The fear and memories of the last two centuries came over him at once and he ran. Lucifer was beckoning to him, but he ran away as fast as he could.

Michael laughed. "Oh, Lucifer. You'll need his permission to get back in and I don't think it's going to happen."

Lucifer realized his big brother was right for once. There was no point in chasing down Sam. Not now anyway. There would be time for retribution later. What he needed now was a vessel. John and Mary had been matched by Heaven for a reason. The Winchesters had the Michael vessel genes and the Campbells had the Lucifer vessel genes. "Mary, " he whispered to her. He could tell that she was one of the special ones who could hear the voice of an angel. That was apparent from the fact that she wasn't covering her ears like the rest. He would seduce her quickly before John and Dean figured out what was going on.

SSS

Sam was outside before he knew what he had done. He had run off and left his family behind. Well, most of them anyway. He saw Samuel standing by himself outside. "What are you doing here?" he asked. Samuel was supposed to be dead, but he was beyond being surprised when a formerly dead relative popped up. He had just caught a glimpse of his parents after all. That made him feel all the more guilty for leaving, but he didn't think he could bring himself to go back in. Besides, what could he do , really?

Before Samuel had a chance to answer, Crowley popped up. "How's it going in there?"

"Go away," Sam said. He was sick of dealing with demons. He would be happy to never see another one, or angels, either. He couldn't believe there was a time in his life when he prayed every day.

"I know how you can get rid of all three of them," Crowley said.

"Three of them?" Samuel asked. He was so out of the loop it wasn't even funny.

"Castiel, Michael, and Lucifer," Crowley elaborated.

Sam wanted to walk away from the demon so badly. If there was one thing he knew, it was that every time he worked with a demon it turned out badly. But the fact was, while it turned bad in the end, the short-term goal was generally accomplished. Kill Lillith, get the horseman's rings, get Lucifer in the cage. He sighed. "What do we have to do?"


	27. Caged Heat

"There is only one way to kill Castiel, now," Crowley said.

"What's that?" Samuel asked.

"We need to bring back a demon."

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. The last thing he wanted was more demons. "You mean we have to raise a demon from Hell? Aren't there enough of you up here already?"

"No, we have to raise a demon who has been killed. We need the actual name of a demon that's been killed by the Colt or the knife or your powers. Then we perform a ritual and they come back in the last body that they were in, but they're fully human."

"Fully human? No demonic powers? Why would they be able to kill Cas?" Sam asked skeptically.

"Because that's the way it works. It's kind of like the Whore of Babylon. She could only be killed by a servant of Heaven. Dean didn't have any special powers when he killed her, but the weapon knew his heart at that moment and it worked. The angel sword will feel the demon turned human and it will work," Crowley explained.

"Let's do it," Samuel said.

"Alright," Sam agreed, only because he couldn't see any other choice and he couldn't figure what could be wrong with a human, even if it was evil.

"Great, who do we have for choices?" Crowley asked.

"Well, not many demons come up to you and introduce themselves. So, I guess that leaves, Azazel, Alistair, Lillith, and Ruby," Sam said, thinking back over the last few years to demons that had actually been killed instead of being exorcised. There were more, but he didn't know their names.

"Pick one," Crowley said.

This was going to be hard. Those were probably his four least favorite demons of all time. He knew they wouldn't have powers—assuming Crowley was telling the truth and that was a big assumption.

"Ruby," he finally decided. Azazel had killed their mother, Alistair had tortured Dean and Lillith had sent Dean to Hell. Ruby hadn't done anything to Dean so Sam decided she was the least of four evils. "What's the ritual?" If there was human sacrifice involved he wasn't doing it.

"Just an incantation said by a resurrected human with no demon blood," Crowley said.

"That'd be you," Sam said to Samuel.

"We sure about this?" Samuel asked. He was beginning to question every instinct he had. Working with Crowley in the first place had been really stupid.

"What choice do we have?" Sam asked thoroughly discouraged.

Crowley smiled. He couldn't believe how easy this family was manipulated. After all, they did know all about demons. "Say 'Ruby, Ruby, killed by a hunter, come back with a clap of thunder,'" Crowley instructed.

"Wait," Sam said. "With a clap of thunder? What else is going to happen when Ruby comes back?" He was less than thrilled with that part. If something else was going to happen, he wanted to know now.

"Nothing. Just a clap of thunder. Literally. I swear," Crowley said.

"Forget it," Sam said. He knew better to trust a demon. Especially this one. And he was getting a weird vibe on top of that. He wasn't telling him something.

Sam walked off assuming that Samuel would follow. Samuel had made mistakes, but who hadn't. If he could learn from his mistakes, so could Samuel.

Samuel didn't follow, though. He hadn't learned. He wanted to fix things and he couldn't see any harm with a humanized demon. "Ruby, Ruby, killed by a hunter, come back with a clap of thunder," he intoned.

Sam had just walked around the building when he heard a clap of thunder. "He didn't?" he said as he turned around, knowing very well that he did.

SSS

Dean, John, and Bobby watched the battle rage on. Castiel was pretty evenly matched with both Michael and Lucifer. One would attack him, he would repel them, but before he could do any real damage, the other brother would attack him. None of them seemed to be tiring and they seemed to be falling into a rhythm.

"What is going on?" John asked.

"Castiel was an angel but ingested all the souls from Purgatory and got a lot more powerful. Michael, the archangel is in Adam. My guess would be Lucifer got Mom to let him in."

John was full of so many questions. "How do you know Adam?"

Bobby felt he shouldn't be here for this, but seeing as how they were trapped in a ring of fire there wasn't much he could do about it. The best he could do was not speak and hope they didn't notice he was there.

"You know that ghoul you killed around the time he was conceived?"

"Yeah," John said.

"Its kids killed Kate and Adam for revenge and then lured me and Sam there. I killed them. About a year later angels brought him back to be Michael's vessel." Dean decided to leave out the part where he's been trapped in hell for a couple of centuries since then.

"What did you mean about Mary letting Lucifer in?"

"Lucifer is an angel. Angels can't possess people without their permission."

"How do you know all this?" John asked, more perplexed than ever.

"Apparently it was the plan from the beginning. I was supposed to be Michael's vessel and Sam was supposed to be Lucifer's. We were supposed to fight and Michael and I would kill Sam and Lucifer, with a ton of human casualties happening along the way. We both said no. Sam then decided to say yes to Lucifer so we could trap him back in Hell. It worked. Then Cas rescued Sam from Hell." Again, he decided to leave out soulless Sam.

"How long do you think this fight will last?" John asked.

"Looks like it could go on forever," Bobby answered when Dean made no move to do so. He noticed the omissions from the answers, but figured it probably wouldn't make a difference. There was very little likelihood of any of them walking out alive no matter who won. "Man, it's hot in here."

"Reminds me of Hell," John and Dean said together.


	28. 99 Problems

Ruby opened her eyes slowly. The last thing she remembered was Dean stabbing her with her own knife. She had honestly been surprised when Sam had popped up behind her to hold her still. She knew that Sam had been mad at her but believed that he would eventually come around. He always did.

"Crowley," she said, contemptuously. But then she was confused. She recognized Crowley's meatsuit, but couldn't see him behind it.

"Hello, Ruby. We need you to do us a favor," Crowley said.

"Who's the old guy?" Ruby asked.

"My grandfather," Sam said as he came back. If Samuel had actually brought Ruby back he needed to contain the damage. He knew Crowley didn't give out spells without having his own ulterior motives, secrets, and lies.

Ruby held up her hand to Crowley for him to help her up. Sam quickly grabbed Ruby's knife and stabbed Crowley with it.

"So, what's going on, Sam?" Ruby asked. She could tell she was human again. It had been centuries, and since much of that time had been spent in Hell it seemed much longer, but she still remembered how it felt to be human. She wasn't in her human body though. She was in Coma Girl. She could tell that, too.

"We need your help," Sam admitted. Now that Samuel had done the deed, he might as well see if Ruby was willing to help.

"With what?"

"We need you to kill Cas," Sam replied.

"Castiel? The angel? How long have I been dead?" Ruby asked, wondering what had happened since her demise. She wondered if Sam had had a falling out with Dean or just his angel buddy.

"Three years. Will you kill Cas or not?"

"Why me?" Ruby asked. She wasn't just going to blindly follow Sam. Blindly following her was what got him in trouble. She was always good at learning from others' mistakes.

"You're the only one who can. He's consumed a ton of souls and he's very powerful. You have to stab him with an angel sword."

"Do you have one?" Samuel asked, for the first time wondering if this was a good plan after all. Crowley hadn't steered him right.

"There's three of them inside, right now."

"What's the catch?" Ruby asked. She knew Sam pretty well. Knew when he was hedging.

"Lucifer has one, Michael has another, and either Cas has the third or it's still on the floor where I left it," Sam admitted. "Come on, Ruby. Michael and Lucifer are trying to kill him right now, but by the sounds coming out of that building, I would say nobody's having any luck. If you do this, I'm sure Lucifer can restore your demonhood." Sam knew he wouldn't bother. He knew Lucifer hated demons more than he hated people, even. But he just wanted to get part one done. He would worry about Michael and Lucifer later. He never thought that would have ever considered the two of them the lesser of two evils. He shuddered as he once more remembered the cage.

"Are you alright, Sam?" Samuel asked. Sam seemed upset and tired. In the whole year he had hunted with Sam, he had never once seen him show any emotions.

"I'm fine," Sam said, brushing off the concern. This was no time to be wallowing in self-pity.

"OK," Ruby finally decided, remembering what she had told Sam about Lucifer rewarding him in ways he couldn't imagine. Besides, as a demon, she considered it her duty to kill an angel if she had a chance. It didn't matter that she wasn't technically a demon anymore.

The three of them creeped into the building, Sam leading the way as he was the only one who had previously been inside and knew exactly where to go.

When they got to the doorway, they were undetected by the battling angels. Ruby wondered which was Michael and which was Lucifer. She figured she would get an even bigger reward from Lucifer if she could kill Michael too, but without her demon powers, she had no way of knowing which was which. That would be a costly mistake. Castiel was still in the same meat suit, so she was just concentrate on that.

Sam was surprised to see his mother in the battle. He realized that Lucifer must have gotten into her somehow. He felt bad for her. He knew how all that evil inside you felt. It just totally overwhelmed you. He hoped they could get Lucifer out of her.

Samuel also realized what must have happened. He also realized that he was the one who had really set this all in motion. If he had never worked with Crowley, it would never have reached this point. He had messed up his daughter's life once by forcing her to be a hunter and exposing her to that demon deal, and now his choices had somehow resulted in her being possessed by the devil. If he could do anything to help her, he would. He just didn't know what.

Dean saw the trio by the door, but didn't say anything to anybody, not wanting to call attention to them. It was taking every bit of restraint he had not to call out to Sam and ask him what Ruby was doing there. Not to mention how was she there?

He watched as Sam nudged Ruby and pointed to Cas's sword lying on the floor. She crept up and got it and retreated back to the door. She watched the battle and when the time was just right, thrust forward and plunged the sword into Cas's heart.

Sam found he was holding his breath. He had no idea if this was going to work. He was totally going on Crowley's word. Crowley who wouldn't know the truth if it walked up and introduced itself. He let his breath out as bright light emanated from Cas and he toppled over. He felt relieved that he didn't see souls flying out from him. He had been half worried about all of Purgatory's monsters escaping, but apparently they died with Cas.

"Thank you, Ruby," Lucifer said.

Ruby curtsied and backed up to stand next to Samuel and Sam again. She was nervous and in awe. She had been serving Lucifer since before she died the first time. She had no idea what to say.

"Now, it's time for our little contest," Michael said to Lucifer.

"The game was delayed and now it's back on," Lucifer agreed.

They circled around each other in the timeless beginning of one-on-one battle.


	29. Malleus Maleficarum

Michael and Lucifer were continuing to circle, looking for an opening. They both knew that they were probably only going to get one chance at a stab and they had to wait for the best opening.

John, Dean, and Bobby watched from their cage of fire. "Who do you think will win?" Bobby asked.

"I don't think it matters," Dean replied. "We're screwed either way."

"What will happen to Mary and Adam?" John asked. That was all he cared about right now. His wife and his son were fighting each other to the death.

"Whoever dies will die, the other will be a vessel forever, probably," Dean answered.

Samuel was also watching carefully. He saw that Michael was about to take his thrust into Lucifer, into Mary. He ran forward and took the hit himself. As he lay dying, he whispered, "I'm sorry for everything." Then he closed his eyes.

"Interesting," Lucifer said. That gave him the opening he needed. With Michael trying to pull his sword out of Samuel, he was free to plunge his sword into Michael.

"You won," Ruby exclaimed, jumping up and down. She had been working towards this forever.

Lucifer looked over towards her. She was still standing next to Sam. Sam took a step behind her, feeling ridiculous even as he did it. She was a foot shorter, weighed half as much as him and would have no interest in protecting him anyway. But, any shield he could get from Lucifer he would take.

Lucifer ignored Ruby. "Sam, I owe you some major pain and then death."

"NO!" Dean yelled.

Lucifer turned around. "I almost forgot about you three. Don't worry. I'll get to you shortly."

"If you restore me to demon status, I'll be more than happy to help," Ruby offered.

"You couldn't even get your original assignment right. You'll be lucky if I don't choose to torture you with the rest of these muddy, disgusting humans," Lucifer snarled.

Ruby was seething with anger. She had to figure out a distraction. She had a plan. Luckily, Dean decided to be all Dean again. Normally, she hated that, but this time it was going to come in handy.

"You don't need to bother with us. Don't you have a world to take over?" he asked. He was worried about Sam. Sam was cowering next to the wall. He had seen Sam scared of things before, but he hadn't seen him cower since they were really little.

Lucifer had turned towards Dean and Ruby was using the distraction to approach Samuel's body. She scooped up some blood and drew on the wall. She started chanting a Latin phrase. Luckily it was a short one and Lucifer didn't have time to react. The light flung from Mary's body and she crumpled to the floor coughing.

At the same time, Sam began coughing up blood and the cage of fire came down. Mary recovered and turned towards Sam who was still hacking blood. She stepped over to him as John, Dean and Bobby rushed over.

"What's happening, Ruby?" Dean asked.

"I learned a spell way back when I was a witch. A little human blood, one little Latin phrase and everything supernatural departs from the world. Demons go to Hell. Angels go to Heaven. Monsters go to Purgatory. And they can't ever come back," Ruby said.

"What's happening to Sam?" Dean asked, focusing on what was important to him.

"He's probably just coughing up his demon blood," Ruby reasoned.

As if to prove her right, Sam suddenly stopped coughing and sagged back on the floor, weak. He hadn't realized how much was in him, but considering the amount he had drank before taking in Lucifer, he shouldn't have been surprised.

"Is that true, Ruby? What you just said?"Sam asked breathlessly.

"It's true."

"Why should we believe you?" Dean asked.

"I don't really care if you do or don't," Ruby said. She couldn't get out without walking right by them, and five hunters were too many to take on when she was human. She was going to wait for them to leave.

Dean wanted to kill Ruby. But, she was apparently human now and they had that pesky no killing human rule. Besides, if she was telling the truth she had just rid the world of the supernatural. She deserved a medal, not death. "Come on, let's go," he said. He and John helped Sam up and supported him as they left the building.

"You OK?" Dean asked.

"I guess," Sam said.

"I can't believe we're all together as a family again," John said. "The only way this could be any better is if Adam had lived."

"Good riddance," Sam said under his breath.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Sorry," Sam said. He shouldn't have said anything. It wasn't even Adam's fault really. Hell had changed him. The first few decades Adam had been fine, but then, he just became something different.

"No, Sam. What did you mean by that?" John asked. He wasn't going to have his dead son's memory disgraced by a jealous brother.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sam answered. He knew that if he did, he would just be flooded with the memories again.

"I don't care if you want to talk about it or not. Tell me," John insisted.

"Dad," Dean protested.

"No, Dean. Adam was my son. I loved him as much as I loved you boys."

"Adam was your son?" Mary asked. She supposed she couldn't really be mad about that. She was dead a long time after all.

"I'm sorry, Mary," John said.

"No need to be," Mary said. "I'm just surprised that's all. What was he like?"

"Why don't we let Sam tell us?" John said.

"It's just he…," Sam trailed off as the memories assailed him again. He fell to the ground gripping his head.

"SAM!" Dean yelled. He couldn't lose him. Not again. "Thanks, Dad."

"What did I do?" John asked, thoroughly confused.

"Whatever Adam did to Sam, he did it in Hell. Sam was in Hell for two years…his soul anyway. That's over two centuries our time. He can't handle the memories."

"I didn't realize. I'm sorry," John said. He couldn't stand seeing Sam like this. He was on the ground moaning.

"Let's get him to the car," Bobby said.

"What car?" Dean asked, remembering that his was upside down.

"Sam had to get here somehow," Bobby pointed out.


	30. The End

Bobby and John went to look for the car while Dean and Mary stayed behind with Sam.

"What happened here?" John asked when he saw the Impala upside down.

"Demons," Bobby said. "Whole swarm of them. Like locusts only worse."

"Think we can fix it?" John asked, wishing he could fix his relationship with Sam as easily as a car. But every time they made any headway they only argued again. John had been thinking it might be easier now that Sam was older, but with what just happened he realized that the problem had always been him, not Sam.

"Yeah, I'll come back for it later," Bobby answered knowing Dean would want to fix it. Then he spotted a car he recognized. "That's from my yard," he said.

They went over to it and Bobby saw that Sam had left the keys in it. Normally that would have annoyed him, but now he was glad. Made life a little easier for once. They drove back to the others.

"How's he doing?" John asked.

"Still out of it," Dean answered. He was kind of mad at his dad, but mostly just really glad that both of his parents were back.

Dean and John lifted Sam into the back seat. Mary got in, angling herself underneath his head. Dean sort of wanted to get in back and put Sam's legs on his lap, but he knew that just wouldn't be comfortable for any of them, so he squeezed into the front seat with his dad and Bobby.

SSS

When Sam remembered Hell again, he escaped into his own head. It was just easier than dealing with it out in the real world.

He found himself in familiar surroundings, but a place he hadn't been to in what seemed like a lifetime.

"Hey, Sam."

Sam turned around to face Jessica. They were in the apartment she burned up in, but it was like it was before. "Jessica," Sam said.

"You shouldn't be here, you know," Jessica said. "This isn't where you belong. You have your family back now."

"But not you," Sam said through tears. Sometimes he couldn't believe how much he missed her. She had been gone longer than he had known her. A lot longer if you counted his Hell time.

"I'm happy, Sam," Jessica said.

Sam shook his head. "I've been to Heaven. I know it's just living your memories over and over again. Sure, that'd be great for a little while, but not forever."

Jessica smiled. "What do you think you're going to be doing in here?"

Sam sighed. Jessica had always been able to win every argument with him. He knew she wasn't real. He knew it was just his memories of her. But, at least he was being true to her memory and she was winning the argument. "Just for a little while, OK?" Sam asked.

"OK," Jessica said. "Just for a little while."

She sat down on their couch and Sam joined her. She lay back in his arms and Sam remembered how much he had loved just the feel of her, how much he just loved being in a room with her even when nobody was speaking or they were just watching a movie together. He remembered how perfect she was.

"I wasn't," Jessica said.

"Wasn't what?" Sam asked.

"I wasn't perfect. You're doing the same thing your Dad did after your Mom died. You're romanticizing me."

"I loved you, Jess," Sam protested. "I still do."

"I know that, Sam. I really do. I loved you, too. But the truth is we were only together for a year and a half. We were so young. Who knows if we would have grown together or apart. I'm glad that you cherish your memories of me, but you need to move on. Since I've died you had a date and a kiss with that Sarah girl. That was good at the time. It was still soon, but nothing until you met Madison. Then you killed her."

"That wasn't my fault," Sam protested.

"I know. But in a way I think you were relieved. You were afraid of replacing me in your heart. Then there was Ruby. Your one long-term relationship since my death was with someone who wasn't even human. You could just use her for sex and not worry about any emotions on her part," Jessica said.

"What's your point?" Sam asked.

"My point is you need to move on. Stop using hunting or your bad luck as an excuse and move on."

Jessica disappeared and Sam was left on his own. He knew she was right and he had to wake up, but he was just going to sleep for a little bit first.

SSS

Ruby was trying to work some magic. She cast spell after spell but nothing happened. "That stupid spell not only cast out all the supernatural creatures, but also all the magic," she realized. She had nothing now. She was totally and completely human. She wasn't even a witch anymore. She laughed as she realized she had finally outsmarted herself.

SSS

Sam woke up as Bobby pulled into the yard. He moaned.

"Sammy?" Dean asked anxiously from the front seat.

"Yeah," Sam replied wearily. He could still smell Jessica. It almost hurt as much as when she had first died.

"Good. We didn't want to have to carry you inside."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Did I miss anything?"

"Well we called a bunch of hunters and they all said that their hunts just up and disappeared. I think Ruby's spell really worked," Dean answered.

"Huh," Sam said. "Looks like Ruby actually did us a favor for once."

When they got inside, Dean's cell phone rang. He looked at the display. "What the hell?"

"What?" Sam asked.

"It's Lisa."

"Who's Lisa?" John asked.

Nobody answered him, but Dean answered the phone. "Hello?" he asked thinking maybe Lisa had just found his number or something and was calling to find out who he was.

"I remember everything," Lisa said.

"How?"

"What did you do to make me forget?" she asked angrily.

"Long story," Dean said, realizing that whatever Cas had done must have broken upon his death. "Sorry about Matt."

"Thanks. Dean," Lisa wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Wasn't even sure why she called him. Except that she missed him.

"Lisa, I don't know if this is going to make any difference to you, but it's all over," Dean said.

"What's all over?" Lisa asked, wondering if he meant their relationship. She kind of realized that, making her wonder once again why she had called.

"Hunting. A spell was cast and everything supernatural is just gone."

"Are you sure?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Come home, then," Lisa said.

"You mean it?" Dean asked.

"Yes," Lisa said.

"OK. I'll be there tomorrow."

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"She's taking me back," Dean grinned from ear to ear. He knew Ben was pissed at him, but hoped that they could work through that.

"Good," Sam said, but he couldn't really smile. He was to fresh from his Jess dream.

"What's wrong?" John asked Sam.

"I miss Jess," he said simply and left the room.

SSS

The next month

"I'm glad you could all come for a visit," Lisa said. If anyone had told her a few years ago that she'd be having dinner with her boyfriend and his dead parents, she would have thought they were nuts.

"It's so nice to meet you both," Mary said. "I don't really know my son, either one of them, very well, but I'm hoping to get to know them now."

"You're all welcome here as much as you want," Lisa said.

Sam couldn't quite hide a smile. He knew Lisa didn't really like him that much and only tolerated him for Dean's sake. "Well, you won't have to worry about me hanging out here too much," Sam said.

"Why not?" Dean asked disappointed. Besides the occasional phone call his family had left him alone this last month while he reconnected with his new family. They had been staying with Bobby and Sam and John had been building bridges and Mary had really been getting to know him.

"You remember a few years ago when we killed Bloody Mary."

"Yeah?" Dean asked, wondering where this was going. He hoped the supernatural wasn't rearing its ugly head again.

"Well, I ran into that girl Charlie. You remember her?"

"Yeah."

"Well, she's all grown up now and living in South Dakota and we've started dating and…," Sam trailed off.

Dean smiled. "I'm so happy for you. She was pretty hot as I remember."

"Dean," Lisa hit him.

"Not compared to you, honey."

"Anyway, I've worked up a new identity that I think will hold and I'm going back to law school. She's a social worker."

John looked around the room and smiled. This was what he had wanted for his family all those years ago before Mary had died. It had been a long time coming, but things were finally set straight. This was their destiny.

The End

A/N There was only a handful of you, but I want to thank all of you who stuck it through to the end. I know there are some Lisa haters out there, so I'm sorry if the ending disappointed you, but it seemed the best way to go for a happy one all around. I also know that Charlie was a bit of a random choice for Sam, but I think with them both feeling guilty over a boyfriend/girlfriend's death they have something in common. Plus, she knows about ghosts at least, so Sam won't have to hide his past.


End file.
